Almost Shattered
by Jen23
Summary: Something horrible happens to Speed, which continues to terrify him. He will need his family, friends, Racer X as Rex, and especially Trixie to help pull him through this. ***Lots of SPEED & TRIXIE*** Complete
1. A Make Over

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_Author's note: The **anime **never did say how or when Speed and Trixie met. So in this story, I have the two starting off as just friends (with crushes on each other) before their relationship turns into much more. This is my 3rd SR fic that I posted on this site. It is different from my first two. It's a bit crazy and I have to admit that I had a ball writing it. __I wrote this back in 2003, then in May of 2008, I saw the **Speed Racer Movie. **I must admit that I love how they showed the two meeting._

_A special thanks to Chase M. Dakota, who requested this story. Another thanks to Renegade Noa for agreeing with her request._

_Disclaimer: I do not claim to own Speed Racer or any of the characters._

**"Almost Shattered"**

**Chapter 1: A Make Over**

Now almost twenty, Speed had been in more than a few races and won nearly all of them. He has said numerous times that he couldn't have done it without everyone's help from the Go Team. Pops and Sparky continuously did fantastic work on the Mach 5, Mom Racer took care of everyone on the team, and even Spritle and Chim Chim had gotten Speed out of quite a few jams. Last but not least, Trixie was a wonderful navigator and great at getting Speed out of problems with the help of her helicopter.

The special people on the Go Team were Speed's partners, his best friends and he knew he could always count on them. Whenever something went horribly wrong in any of the races they were all there to help - a real true team. This help usually consisted of helping Speed with a villain or just helping him to get across the finish line first. A person who wasn't on the Go Team who helped out tremendously as well was none other than Racer X.

All around, Speed was a very likeable guy even by most of the competition. One of the reasons was because he never hesitated to help another driver out of danger during a race. Very rarely he lost a race but when he did, he made sure to congratulate the winner.

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It was a sunny Wednesday when Speed came home from the track after practicing for a race. This up coming race would be very special because it would literally be in Speed's home town but not on the regular track. This long race would be through the city and into the woods of the town. Businesses that were normally open on Saturdays decided to gladly close down for this Saturday race. This racing event made the super bowl for football seem like small potatoes.

Now home, Speed rested on the sofa feeling exhausted. Spritle and Chim Chim had tagged alone with Pops, who was out working on a new motor, so Speed would be able to relax in peace. Mom Racer was once again too busy cooking one of her wonderful meals for dinner in the kitchen. Speed physically felt how much he needed to relax after his racing performance during his practice. It had been nothing short than impressive. However, falling asleep wasn't as easy as he thought it was going to be since he couldn't seem to get something off his mind. And it wasn't his racing career that was the something on his mind.

His social life is what he was thinking about. He really never had a problem when it came to girls but lately he only had one on his mind. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't shake the thought of this certain female. This girl was Trixie. She had been a big part of the Go Team and his best friend, next to Sparky. Recently however, he found himself becoming more and more attracted to her. He never said anything to her though, afraid that he might ruin their friendship. Every time he reminded himself that they were friends only, down deep he knew he wanted more. He wanted her. The good thing was that she hadn't seemed to be dating anyone lately. He also often thought he read jealousy in her eyes when other girls were around but he wasn't sure.

Becoming more and more comfortable on the sofa, he thought of some of their first serious talks. They had spoken of their dreams to each other. She would listen to him intently when he spoke of his racing dream, and he listened closely to her when she spoke of her dream of flying. He couldn't help but admire her when she did learn to fly and now, she was no doubt, his biggest fan.

With his eyes closed, a smile crept upon his face when he thought of the old Trixie. She didn't always wear her little, pink shirts that tied up by her shoulders on both sides. She had once been a Tom Boy who wore big T-shirts most of the time when they were younger. Her hair had practically covered her eyes to where they were very hard to see. Of course she brushed her hair but she never fixed it or put make up on. However, Speed didn't care. She was his buddy and one of the only people he trusted to drive the Mach 5. They were very loyal, best friends.

While wondering what it would be like to be more than friends with Trixie, he began to think of a time in the past when they were younger.

Before racing and flying helicopters, there was high school. Speed and Trixie's senior year was when she stopped being a Tom Boy. She, Speed and Sparky were in a drama class together, and one day the teacher instructed the class that they had to make up a short script and then act it out as a play on stage. The teacher stressed that it would count as a big grade so everyones' participation was mandatory.

The girls in the class worked very hard coming up with the story line of the script and in time they were ready to put the play on. And even though the guys in the class weren't thrilled about the romance in the small play, they had to go along with it. Sparky reminded them that they had to do what the girls wanted because the guys hadn't done any work on the script at all. Like most stories with romance, the script was mainly about the guy getting the girl in the end.

Speed and Melissa were elected to be the main characters because of their good looks. Melissa was a very pretty girl with wavy blonde hair, and at the time she and Speed were dating. It wasn't anything serious in his eyes, which was how most of Speed's relationships were with girls. He was quite a flirt with his long eyelashes and blue eyes.

The day of the play everyone was playing their parts fine while Trixie was taking care of things behind the stage. Only one but very major problem popped up while the play was going on. Melissa became sick and couldn't play the main female character. Not having any idea of what was going on, Speed remained on the complete opposite side of the stage cutting up with the guys. Because he and Melissa weren't to go on at the same time, he planned to hang around the guys up till the very last minute before he had to go on.

Janet, a petit girl with short, red hair knew they had to replace Melissa and fast. She took it upon herself to more or less be the director of the play as her eyes fell on to Trixie who was wearing her usual baggy T- shirt.

"Trixie!" Janet called running up to her. "You have to go on for Melissa!"

"What?" Trixie and some other people asked at the same time.

Ignoring the others, Janet said confidently, "Trixie, you know what to do and you're about the same size as Melissa." Without waiting for an answer, Janet began to pull Trixie to the dressing room.

"Not to be mean," a guy named Jeff whispered to his friend, "but isn't Melissa's character supposed to be pretty?"

"Yes," the friend said. "I don't think Trixie fits that description either."

In the dressing room, Trixie said shyly to Janet, "I don't know about this."

"Like I said before. You'll fit into the dress Melissa was to wear," Janet said pulling it out.

"Isn't it a bit revealing?" Trixie asked not wanting to put it on. She was way too modest and the dress looked way too small on the hanger.

Janet laughed a little and said, "Come on. I've often wanted to fix you up. No offense."

After the dress was on Trixie, Janet started to work on her shy friends's hair and make up. After a few minutes and happily surprised at the finished product, Janet said, "You are going to give Speed a heart attack when he sees you."

"I really doubt it," Trixie said not about to take Janet seriously.

Ignoring Trixie, Janet said, "Girl, I never knew you had a figure like that. You look better than Melissa looked in that dress." Though Trixie was average on top, her waist and hips were very curvy.

"Oh, please," Trixie said not believing she looked better than anyone in that dress.

"Come here," Janet said pulling her friend in front of a big mirror.

The red head had to laugh when Trixie saw herself since she became speechless at seeing her image in the mirror.

Trixie saw a beautiful girl in that mirror and that girl was to her surprise, really her. She had to admit that the dress looked a lot better on her than it had on the hanger. It didn't look quite as skimpy since it did cover everything. However, it was her face that really grabbed her attention. She hadn't realized just how big and pretty her green eyes could be. It was amazing to her what eye liner could do.

"All you needed was a touch of make up to bring out your high cheek bones," Janet said with a smile. "You also needed me to get that hair out of your eyes and please, what ever you do, ditch the T-shirts. At least don't wear them everyday anymore."

"You don't think the dress is a little tight," Trixie asked a little embarrassed as she noticed curves she didn't even know she had, in the sleeveless, black dress.

"Let's just say that most of the girls in our class would kill to look like that in a dress."

Trixie could only smile; feeling a bit embarrassed.

"It's true," the red head said putting some of the make up away.

"Janet," Trixie said low.

"I wouldn't lie to you," Janet said not wanting to hear Trixie deny how good she looked.

"Janet," Trixie said again trying to get her friend to listen to her.

"What," Janet said in frustration while rolling her eyes at Trixie.

"I just wanted to say...thank you," Trixie said, sincerely liking her make over.

"You're very welcome. Just don't get a fat head," the red head teased. She had always liked Trixie because Trixie was so far from being vain and also very nice. As Janet walked away, she added, "I can't wait to see Speed's face when you walk onto the stage."

Trixie suddenly remembered one night when he almost kissed her even when she was her Tom Boyish self. They had just gotten finished having a serious conversation when they just found themselves staring at each other. Speed then slowly leaned closer to her but just before their lips touched, Spritle and Chim Chim popped up and the attempted kiss was never ever brought up again. "Speed and I are just friends," Trixie said even though she did think he was so sweet for wanting to kiss her even though she wasn't the beauty queen type.

"He's a guy," Janet said rolling her eyes again. "I'm telling you. He's going to be seriously checking you out whether you like it or not."

Trixie pushed the thought out of her head, happy enough with her new look.

When she walked out of the room to get ready to go on to the stage, everyone became quiet as they stared at her. They were needless to say, shocked. Jeff's jaw fell open and Sparky's eyes almost popped out of his head.

Speed was already on stage acting out his part in the play knowing Melissa would be joining him shortly. Luckily, Janet had finished Trixie up just before it was time for her to go on.

Feeling very nervous, Trixie didn't want to step on to the stage even though she knew what to say and do perfectly. When it was her cue to walk on, it took everything in her to force her self out onto the stage but she did, feeling the hot, stage lights hit her.

Speed knew from the rehearsals that he wasn't suppose to look at Melissa till she took his hand. When he felt a soft hand take his, he turned his head expecting to see Melissa. Instead, he saw someone very close to him who now seemed to take his breath away. He looked closer at her face to see that it was indeed really, Trixie.

To Trixie's surprise, Speed's eyes widened quite a bit as he forgot to say his next line - making his friends laugh.

Because of the silence on stage, Trixie went ahead with her line.

Speed just continued to look at her with an expression of shock on his face.

This is when Trixie realized that Janet had been right about how Speed would react. Knowing she had to snap Speed out of it, Trixie tightened her grip on his hand to try to get him to say at least his next line.

Comprehending, Speed finally began to say his line but sounding as if he was in a daze. Slowly he then put his hands on her waist since he was supposed to. He was also supposed to look around the stage before looking at her once again but his eyes remained on the lovely creature he had his hands on.

When Trixie's part came to pull away from Speed, she did. After walking a couple of steps away from him, she was to then turn around and look at him. Doing the scene wrong, he had followed her. He was only about half a foot directly behind her when she turned around. Because he was so close, she almost fell backwards but his arms encircled her waist and pulled her up against him - catching her. The teacher was totally into the play thinking that this was part of it.

Applause erupted because that was the end of the play. As the curtains came down, Speed still had his arms around his sweet friend as he whispered, "Trixie. You look...beautiful."

Still surprised by his reaction, she just barely whispered back, "Thank you."

"Okay. Shows over," Jeff said walking up to them making Speed release Trixie, his buddy.

"You two did great!" Sparky exclaimed still laughing at the shock on Speed's face when he first saw Trixie.

Later that night there was a party for all in the play. Trixie showed up wearing a pink shirt that had been buried in the back of her closet. It made her look more like a girl than the T-shirts had. Her hair was still fixed its new way and her make up was perfect, making her look very pretty.

Melissa was actually at the party with Speed since she felt better.

It was a night like never before for Trixie. Guys asked her to dance and while she was dancing with Jeff, she could swear that Speed was watching her. She had found herself wishing she was dancing with him, but reminded herself that he had a girlfriend. _You're just Speed's friend, _she thought almost hitting herself in the head so she'd snap out of it.

Very late that same night, there were just a few guys left at the party when Sparky asked Speed a question. "Speed. How do you think Trixie looked tonight?"

Without thinking first, Speed blurted out, "I think she was the best looking girl here tonight."

Sparky and the other guys laughed at Speed's quick admittance while wondering how he had held it in so far that night.

"Melissa wouldn't like that," Jeff said now wanting Trixie for himself.

Sparky stopped laughing and watched a speechless Speed closely while wondering if he was really falling for their female friend. A light suddenly went on in Sparky's head as he remembered the time Speed confessed to almost kissing Trixie.

With a smile on his face from the memory of seeing Trixie for the first time in her pink shirt, Speed finally fell asleep on that sofa he had been day dreaming on.

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The big Saturday event was here on such a beautiful day. Speed was more than ready and very excited about the big race while the Go Team carefully checked that the Mach 5 was in perfect condition.

Taking a break, Trixie watched Speed as he spoke to Pops probably about the race. She had really started to fall hard for him; wanting to push away every girl who went near him, and she often wondered if he could even tell. Now, unlike before, being close to him made her heart race. Her heart especially raced when he gave her a friendly hug. She couldn't understand why she was feeling this way about her best friend. And lately even just looking into his blue eyes made her melt. While one part of her wanted to tell him, the other part was afraid she'd lose him all together if she did.

Minutes before the race was to start, Speed pulled Trixie aside and finally got enough nerve to do what he had been wanting to. He was tired of just thinking about it. "Trixie. After the race I was wondering if you would like to do something together. I know we usually do but I mean just the two of us...alone."

So surprised, Trixie almost couldn't speak as Speed's eyes held hers. Finally, she remembered how to speak and said, "Yes, I would like that very much."

Because no navigator was necessary in the race, Speed smiled and said, "I'll miss you in the race today."

"I'll miss being with you, but I'll be watching," she said with a shy smile.

Speed winked back before heading to the Mach 5.

_Thanks for reading, Jen_


	2. Tormenting Trixie

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_Thanks so much for the reviews!_

**Chapter 2: Tormenting Trixie**

After just asking Trixie out on an actual date, Speed smiled as she told him she'd be watching him in the race that no navigator was needed. The crowd was getting louder and louder with cheers but the two young people were oblivious to it. Instead they were locked in each other's gazes, both thrilled to know that they might very well be moving beyond just being friends. Chills ran up and down their spines as they dreamt of what was going to happen between them later that night.

Suddenly it was announced that the race was about to start.

Sparky was smiling at the two wondering if they had even heard the announcement. As he continued to watch them, he admitted to himself that the thought of Trixie and Speed dating did seem pretty neat. Though sometimes Trixie drove Sparky crazy, over all she was a good friend of his and she seemed to have a good affect on Speed. Something Speed and Trixie had in common was their strong energy and at times it seemed to be almost unreal. They never stopped between being in races together, to both helping Inspector Detector.

Sparky knew it was time to break their stare. "Hey you guys," Sparky said wishing he had a bucket of water to pour over their heads. "Say your good-byes because it's time to win this race."

Both somewhat embarrassed, Speed and Trixie forced their eyes from each other.

Running his hand through his jet black hair, Speed glanced back at Trixie to give her one last smile.

She smiled back wishing she had enough nerve to give him a good luck kiss.

"I'll see you later," he said softly just before dashing in front of the crowd. The crowd became even more outrageously loud when they saw him - one of the best racers. It seemed that everyone in his hometown wanted him to win. Speed leaped into the Mach 5 truly loving his chosen career. It was so totally addicting.

Trixie smiled as she watched Speed ready the Mach 5 to practically blast off. However, she really couldn't wait till _after _the race. "He wants to be alone with me tonight," she whispered clearly thrilled.

Sparky had known from Speed's very own mouth that he was going to ask Trixie out for that night. Upon hearing her whisper, the mechanic said with a smile, "What was that you whispered, Trixie?"

"Oh, nothing," she said as if being alone with Speed that night was a secret.

"Right...nothing," Sparky said shaking his head with a bigger smile as he looked back to the race cars, which were ready to go. Changing the subject and looking a bit confused, he said, "Where's the Shooting Star?"

"It should be out there somewhere," Trixie said remembering Racer X telling Speed and she that he was definitely going to be in the race.

"Maybe he dropped out," Sparky said happily. "Less competition to worry about."

"Come on, Sparky," Trixie said standing next to him as they waited for the cars to take off. "You know Speed loves racing against Racer X."

"Yeah," Sparky had to agree. "If Speed wins today, he'll feel like he really didn't if Racer X isn't in the race."

"Right. Ooh, the race is about to start!" Trixie said excitedly.

The crowd roared as the cars took off around the track. As usual, Speed played it cool letting some others take the lead for now.

"Go, Speed! Go!" Trixie yelled jumping up and down.

Sparky just looked at her and smiled.

Turning to him after a few seconds since he wasn't yelling with her like he normally did, Trixie looked at him strangely. Sparky just had a huge grin on his face instead. "Sparky. Why are you grinning like that?" Trixie asked unknowingly.

"You've got the hots for Speed. Don't you?" he screamed over the loud cars.

Before Trixie could deny it, Spritle and Chim Chim both walked up. "You got the hots for my brother?" Spritle asked tugging on her shirt.

"No," Trixie lied feeling very embarrassed. She had managed to keep her feelings of how she really felt about Speed hidden and now Sparky was obviously ready to tease her. She began to wonder who else could tell how crazy she was about Speed.

Wanting Trixie to admit how she really felt about the racer, Sparky said, "Yes, Spritle. Trixie does have the hots for your brother."

"I'm going to tell Speed," Spritle said as Chim Chim started to jump up and down as if he liked what Spritle had said.

"If I give you some candy will you please not repeat what Sparky said?" Trixie asked while digging into her pocket for some. She always kept plenty handy for times like this, which was quite often with Spritle and Chim Chim.

"I won't tell. Yummy!" Spritle exclaimed, his eyes big as he and Chim Chim grabbed it out of her hands.

When Trixie looked back at Sparky, she folded her arms as she tapped her foot. "Come on, Sparky. Don't start anything."

"Oh, come on, Trixie. You know you'll be trying to start something with Speed tonight." The machanic knew he was going to have so much fun driving Trixie crazy this day. He couldn't help himself because it just added to the thrill of the race.

Looking mad but then laughing, Trixie pleaded to Sparky, "Will you please just…shut up!"

"Trixie," Pops said walking up to her and Sparky. "You two are missing the race. What is wrong with you?"

"We know what's wrong," Spritle said till Trixie quickly grabbed him and covered his mouth.

Pops couldn't help but notice Trixie smiling innocently. Knowing he probably didn't want to hear whatever Spritle was about to say, he didn't push to know.

Sparky laughed as he looked back at the cars in the race.

The noise from the race cars started to lower as the car started to head off of the track. "There goes Speed," Pops said pointing to the Mach 5, which was driving off the track and on to the racing route.

Trixie turned to look and didn't know that she had a dreamy look on her face as she watched Speed zoom away in the Mach 5.

Sparky knew it was time to torment her some more. "The way you're looking at Speed, I'd swear your mind is in the gutter," he said making Trixie want to push him in front of one of the cars still speeding around the track.

"What?" Pops asked really not knowing what Sparky had said.

Spritle decided to help out. "He said that Trixie must have her mind in the gut..."

Trixie quickly shoved a candy bar into Spritle's mouth causing Chim Chim to do a flip because he thought that was very funny. Chim Chim then opened his mouth waiting for Trixie to give him a candy bar as well.

She did and then again she looked at Pops with an innocent smile on her face. "Sparky said that my mind is in...guilt because I couldn't be Speed's navigator today."

"Trixie," Pops said. "You know the rules were no navigators in this race."

"I know, Pops," she said turning back to look at the last cars leaving the track.

As Pops left the pit, Spritle was still trying to figure out why Trixie had shoved a big candy bar into his mouth. "Trixie," he said puzzled after he inhaled it. "How would your mind be in a gutter?"

Trixie looked at Sparky with a mean expression on her face as the mechanic smiled and said, "It means that Trixie is thinking of things she'd like to do to, excuse me, I mean things she'd like to do with Speed."

"What do you want to do to my brother?" Spritle asked protectively; his eyes big as he stared at the girl who had always been nice to everybody, especially Speed.

Sparky folded his arms then lifted one hand to touch his chin as he thought. "Let's see. First she wants to..."

"Sparky, shut up!" Trixie yelled clearly upset and then she shoved the biggest candy bar she had into Sparky's mouth. Thank Goodness she decided to bring extra, extra candy that day.

Suddenly a reporter from a sport's station was walking into the Go Team's Pit. Unfortunately for Sparky, Pops wasn't there to answer any of their questions.

Trixie had seen them coming and wasn't about to warn Sparky.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder taking him by surprise. The cameras were rolling when he turned to face them with the candy bar still hanging out of his mouth.

"Catch backs," Trixie mumbled under her breath just loud enough for Sparky to hear.

In the race Speed was doing just fine while the Mach 5 obeyed everything he wanted it to do. He had to laugh out loud at how easy it was going to be for him to win this race, especially in his familiar territory. He also had to smile about the date he was to have with Trixie that night. With that thought, he pushed down harder on the gas petal. The Mach 5 and he were the perfect combination as it started to pull in front of everyone.

Racer X had just pulled onto the track, making the sport's station people leave the Go Team's Pit. They wanted to film the Masked Racer's late start in the race. His late entrance meant that he would be a good five minutes behind Speed for now.

"Trixie," Sparky said troubled. "I'm going to be all over the TV tonight with a candy bar hanging out of my mouth."

She covered her mouth as she laughed, then said, "You shouldn't have been tormenting me."

"Oh, please," Sparky said looking around to make sure that Spritle and Chim Chim were gone. "You know you're crazy about Speed."

"Sparky," Trixie said becoming serious. "Speed is a...really good friend of mine."

"Yeah, right," Sparky said with a smile as he rolled his eyes.

"What has gotten into you?" she asked now putting her hands on her hips as she looked back at her friend.

"Get off of it, Trixie," Sparky said like he couldn't be tricked. "I've seen the way you look at him lately. It's written all over your face. You've fallen for Speed."

Trixie looked around glad that no one else was in the pit. "Alright, alright. I'm crazy about him," she said giving in because she was so happy that she's be alone with Speed that night. "Just please be quiet about it. Okay?"

"Now I will," Sparky said glad that she admitted it as he left the pit because he had gotten what he wanted.

Trixie was so excited she felt like doing flips through the pit since she had so much energy to unleash. Instead, she started to roll some tires that were on the ground out of the way. Thinking out loud, she said, "I can't believe Sparky was implying what I will do to Speed right in front of little Spritle." She was proud of herself for being a good girl. But suddenly a mischievous smile appeared on her face. Standing up after pushing the last tire into its place, she said, "I have to admit. I would love to grab Speed by the collar of his shirt, throw him across the top of the Mach 5 and then lay a huge kiss on him."

Hearing only the very end of what Trixie had said, someone said, "Trixie. I never heard you speak that way before. You must really like who ever you want to lay a huge kiss on."

Trixie turned to see Mom Racer smiling back at her. Turning red, Trixie thought that Mom Racer would die if she knew that Trixie was talking about her precious son. "I'm sorry," the young girl said feeling so embarrassed. "I don't know what came over me."

"No reason to be sorry. We're all excited about the race," Mom Racer said with a smile. "But maybe one day you can tell me who this guy is," she said already pretty sure she knew who it was. If it were up to her to pick a girl for Speed, Trixie would be her number one pick.

Trixie too had always liked Mom Racer and now hoped that the older woman's image of her didn't change. _I hope she really only heard the huge kiss part, _Trixie thought to herself.

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There in the woods waiting for Speed was a man in a pick up truck. In this man's hand was a little hand held TV with the race playing on it. The man watched with a smile when the station showed Speed way into the lead. It was just what he had expected.

The helicopters were covering the race pretty well and this man hoped their cameras would cover what he had planned also. The distance between Speed and the other drivers was perfect. If Speed continued to stay far ahead of everyone the man would have plenty of time to do his plan before anyone else could show up. He laughed knowing that no doubt, Speed would stay in the lead. He had seen every race the racer had been in, so he knew how well Speed drove. Who didn't?

Speed was practically flying through the woods on this beautiful day, still positive that he was going to win the race. And even now the thought of that night was lingering in his head. He had already made up his mind that he was going to kiss Trixie even though it was only going to be their first date. It wasn't like they didn't know each other.

Coming up on a sharp turn, he hit his brakes and at the end of the turn laid on the gas making the Mach 5 hug the turn perfectly. A couple of other sharp turns came and Speed took them brilliantly as well.

Suddenly, up ahead in the distance, Speed saw the pick up truck parked on the side of the street.

"What the…" Speed said slowing down. "I wonder if one of the helicopters saw this truck. No one's supposed to be on this route today."

Speed stopped the Mach 5, not worried about the race because he knew his competitors were way behind. He was about to walk over to the truck when someone very familiar to him walked out from behind it.

This someone was familiar because he was dressed exactly like Speed and even looked like him. The only difference was that the man was larger.

After being somewhat shocked, Speed asked, "Is this a joke? Why are you dressed like me? And...look like me?"

The guy didn't answer.

"What's going on?" Speed asked baffled.

"You're going to need help," the man said in a deep voice as he got into his truck.


	3. Traumatized

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**_Warning:_**_ This chapter is pretty violent._

**Chapter 3: Traumatized**

All the race cars were off the track and on the route through the woods trying to catch up to Speed who was way ahead of them. Back at the stadium there were large screens showing the race now that the cars weren't visible on the track. The cameras that were up above in the helicopters were bringing them the live coverage of the race.

Pops and Mom Racer were sitting with some other important people in the racing world, while Sparky and Trixie decided to stay in the Go Team Pit. The two of them were watching a TV Sparky had brought. They were prepared to have a good time cheering for Speed. They had snacks, drinks and chairs to sit on. It was so different, especially for Trixie since she was usually in the race with Speed.

"I wish they would show Speed," she said holding a big cup in her hand that was filled with a cold drink as she sat comfortably in a chair in front of the TV.

"I bet you wish all they would show is Speed," Sparky said with a laugh.

"Sparky," Trixie said doing her best to ignore what he meant. "I just want to make sure that Speed is still in the lead."

"No doubt he is," Sparky said very confident in his friend and the Mach 5.

Suddenly coming on to the TV screen was Speed but he wasn't behind the wheel of the Mach 5. He was just standing on the side of the narrow street in the woods.

Trixie, Sparky, the people in the stadium and the people home watching the race in their living rooms wondered why Speed was out of the Mach 5.

Looking at the man who looked like him, Speed wondered what the look alike meant when he said he was going to need help. Speed had no idea that millions of people were watching him at that very moment - that all of the TV stations were covering him even though they didn't know what was going to happen. The stations just loved a good story and this could be one considering it was covering Speed Racer.

Racer X, who was more than just your average racecar driver, had his radio on tuned to the race. He heard that Speed was out of his car and he wondered if the Mach 5 was giving him problems. With that in mind, the Masked Racer knew he had to catch up to his little brother so he could help him. "Damn alarm clock," he said still furious at himself for not getting to the race on time. He decided his alarm clock was going into the trash as his car finally started to pass some other race cars.

"I want to know what's going on," Speed said staring at the look alike in the pick up truck.

The look alike then started his truck and shouted out of the window, "Look, Speed. You're on TV."

Even though Speed knew very well that the helicopters had cameras filming the race, he didn't know they were filming him now. His head automatically lifted up looking for the helicopter that he could hear coming closer. For a second he thought it would be cool if it was Trixie up there.

"It was too easy to get you to look up," the look alike whispered as he pushed down on the gas pedal of his truck without hesitation and headed right at Speed.

Speed heard tires and was surprised that one of the racers had caught up to him already. He looked down from the helicopter but to his surprise it was the pick up truck headed directly at him and not a race car ready to pass him up. Unfortunately, it was way too late for him to even try to jump out of the way.

"That truck is going to hit him!" Trixie screamed as she stood up dropping her drink on to the ground. It seemed to splatter everywhere in slow, slow motion as Speed was thrown back a few feet from the truck striking him. The truck then stopped before it could do anymore damage to Speed because the look alike didn't want the young racer dead - just yet.

Getting out of the truck, the look alike proceeded to take his time as he walked over to Speed.

Speed opened his blue eyes in disbelief at what just happened to him while he looked up at the crystal, blue sky, glad that he had his helmet on because of how hard his head hit the ground after he had been thrown. He slowly began to sit up but the pain in his abdomen, where the truck had hit him, made him lay back down.

"Can't get up?" the look alike asked standing over Speed. He didn't wait for an answer as he leaned over and yanked Speed's helmet off, causing him to gasp. He then grabbed Speed by his shirt collar and began to pull him across the rough ground.

Speed felt the mud, dirt, and rough rocks digging into his back as he struggled to free himself from this man. However, still somewhat dizzy from the truck hitting him, Speed knew his struggle to be free was useless. The look alike then suddenly lifted Speed up by the collar of his shirt to a standing position and then slammed him against a tree.

"What…what are you doing?" Speed asked trying to gain his composure. He had just gotten hit by a truck and knew he needed serious medical attention. With his strength temporarily gone, he was in no condition to fight back like he normally would.

Making sure that Speed wouldn't even be able to attempt to fight back, the look alike punched him hard in the abdomen where he was already in pain.

Trixie and Sparky were practically on top of the TV now. "Speed's already hurt! What is that man doing!" Trixie cried out with obvious fear and panic in her voice as she watched the look alike tie Speed's arms back behind a tree.

"If the damn camera people would stop filming and help Speed..." Sparky began to say but became speechless as he helplessly watched the look alike make a fist and punch Speed across the face.

The people in the stadium also watched as the look alike punched Speed more than once. Some couldn't continue to watch as they sadly turned away from the screens.

Mom Racer was hysterical as was Pops, who was cursing at the man. Not being able to stop himself, Pops started to run to a car, any car so he could go to his son.

The police and emergency crew that were at the race had already headed to Speed but it would be awhile before they got to him. Unfortunately, Speed didn't look like he had time.

His face ached as he finally managed to say again, "Why...why...are you...doing this?"

The look alike didn't answer as he then leaned down and picked up a very heavy branch, which might as well have been a bat.

Racer X was in a panic as he heard what was going on. He had the pedal as far down as it would go as he started to pass just about all of the drivers and it was amazing that he kept the Shooting Star from violently sliding off course.

The look alike took the heavy branch he had picked up and swung it as hard as he could into Speed's right side causing the racer to scream out in pain.

Trixie was crying uncontrollable in Sparky's arms, not able to look at the TV any longer. "This isn't happening!" she cried and then pulled away from Sparky. "I have to get there!" Feeling sick to her stomach, she grabbed her purse but then dropped it. Falling down onto her knees down on the ground, she began digging through it for her keys. With tears streaming down her face, she looked back to the TV screen.

The look alike was now ready to attack Speed's left side with the heavy branch.

After taking the hit on his left side, Speed's head hung down and he looked lifeless. There was total silence in the stadium till Speed ever so slowly lifted his face to look at the horrible man. Relieved breaths were heard throughout the stadium, till the look alike punched Speed in his abdomen yet again.

"I have to get there before he kills my brother," Racer X said just before seeing the pick up truck ahead in the distance.

When the look alike saw Racer X coming, he stopped punching, grabbed Speed's head in both of his hands and said, "Don't worry. I will kill you soon…if you don't die today." He then slammed Speed's head back hard against the tree and ran off into the woods leaving the pick up truck behind. _Since I stole the truck, no one will be able to figure out who I am, _he thought happily. He also knew it would be too hard for anyone to find him in the woods. The helicopters couldn't see down through the trees and that was why he hurt Speed by the street since he wanted everyone to see.

"Please. Please still be alive, Speed," Racer X said cursing the Shooting Star for not going even faster. When the car finally got to Speed, it almost slammed into the Mach 5 just before Racer X stopped it in time. The Masked Racer jumped out and ran over to his younger brother as fast as he could. He didn't have to wonder if Speed was still alive, because of hearing his loud, heavy breathing.

It hurt tremendously for Speed to breathe - taking all of his energy as he gasped for air while he wondered how many of his ribs were broken.

Racer X moved quickly to Speed's figure that was tied to the tree. "I need to get you out of here," the Masked Racer said and then he put a hand on his brother's jaw and lifted his face up slowly. It was even worse than what Racer X had expected to see. One of Speed's eyes was swollen shut from the punching he received and the other eye was just barely open and blood shot. His nose was probably broken and there was just too much blood. Racer X felt as if he had been punched in his stomach himself because Speed looked to be only holding on by a thread. He knew it would be hard to keep his brother conscious after the beating he had taken. "Speed. Please just stay awake. Please."

Speed sounded as if he was going to try to say something but only coughed up some blood causing even more horrible pain.

"Speed. Don' talk," Racer X said trying to keep his voice from shaking. "I'm going to untie you and lay you down as easily as I can." The Masked Racer knew it might not be wise to move his brother but he couldn't just leave him hanging onto that tree.

With his hands now shaking as well as his voice, the Masked Racer wished he had help. Seeing his little brother like this was just way too hard. Soon and still with shaking hands, he managed to get Speed's hands untied. Not being able to help the Masked Racer at all, Speed was dead weight because he was just too weak from the pain his upper body was going through. It was increasingly becoming harder and harder for him to breathe. As slowly and gently as possible, Racer X laid Speed onto the ground.

Suddenly Speed started to shake a bit as if he was cold and Racer X realized that he was going into shock. The Masked Racer worried even more because he didn't have anything to keep Speed warm.

Soon a couple of other drivers were heard pulling up. Not caring about the race, they stopped to help because they had been radioed about what had happened.

What was happening was still on the screens in the stadium. Some people were praying while others were just upset and quiet as they watched, hoping Speed didn't die right there in front of their eyes.

One of the racers said to Racer X, "An ambulance should be here in a minute."

"Why won't one of the damn helicopters just land!" Racer X demanded furiously.

One of the racers took a breath before answering. "They're too big to fit on the narrow street. Luckily some ambulances and fire trucks were standing by and left for here as soon as the truck...hit Speed."

Racer X looked back to his brother and saw that he still had that one eye open as his breathing became even louder. Taking his brother's hand, the Masked Racer said, "It's going to be alright, Speed. Please, just hang in there. Pops, Mom, Spritle, Sparky and Trixie need you. I...I...need you."

Unfortunately because of the pain, Speed had been thinking that it would be better if he was dead before he had heard Racer X pleading to him not to give up.

"You're strong, Speed. If anyone can hang in there, it's you," Racer X said forcing confidence into his voice.

More drivers had stopped now and even though Racer X figured no one would, he asked is anyone had a blanket.

To his surprise, one driver did and ran to get it.

Racer didn't want to know or even cared why he had a blanket in his race car, but he was grateful.

Once the blanket was covering Speed, the racers could only hope Speed's shaking would stop. They were sincerely upset over what had happened and wouldn't have wished the pain Speed was going through on anyone. "The ambulance should be here soon," one of them said.

"Yeah," another agreed. "I still need another chance to beat you in a race, Speed."

Speed couldn't really comprehend what they were saying. At the moment he could only hear Racer X's voice in his head saying over and over to just hang on.

Finally the ambulance got there and the paramedics told everyone to move away from Speed.

Racer X watched ignoring the other racers around him as the paramedics put an oxygen mask on his brother. One of the paramedics said Speed needed an IV to get fluid into his body because he was in shock. Sadly Racer X noticed that Speed didn't even seem to feel the needle going into his arm for the IV probably because of the tremendous pain he was already in.

Ever so slowly and carefully the paramedics began picking Speed up to put him on a stretcher.

After Speed was in the ambulance, Racer X tried to go with him but the paramedics explained that there was just no room. There really wasn't any room because of the amount of paramedics whom jumped into the ambulance just after seeing that Speed had been hit by the pick up truck.

A policeman now there got in touch with Pops by radio and told him to meet them at the hospital.

Racer X watched the ambulance drive away and as he turned to jump into the Shooting Star to follow, he saw the Mach 5. It still looked ready for Speed to take it on its next victory.

Racer X leaned on the Mach 5 doing something he hadn't let himself do in years. Even though the other racers couldn't tell, tears started to soak his mask. After a couple of seconds, he opened up the door to the Mach 5 as the other drivers watched. He got in and then put his hands and then his head down on to the steering wheel. He couldn't leave his brother's car in the woods because it was so much a part of Speed. Making himself sound as if he hadn't been crying, Racer X lifted his head and said loud enough so that the other drivers could hear him, "Please call someone to drive the Shooting Star back. I have to bring the Mach 5 back to Speed's family." He didn't admit to them that being in the Mach 5 was a way to be close to Speed.

Racer X then took off, hoping and praying that Speed would make it.

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About twenty minutes later, Speed's family, Trixie and Sparky were waiting for him to arrive at the hospital. They just stood by the doors eager for the ambulance to pull up. When the ambulance got to the city, policemen on motor bikes escorted it straight to the hospital the quickest way possible.

After it made it to the hospital, Mom Racer broke down at seeing the condition of her son was in, making Pops grab her into his arms to hold her as he turned a pale himself. The injured person didn't even look like Speed but the white pants and blue shirt gave away that it was.

Trixie had been watching Spritle but she gently pushed him to Sparky as she walked along with the nurses and doctors who were now quickly pushing Speed towards the emergency room.

His face was pretty badly swollen with dried blood, and his body was in obvious pain. Trixie wrapped her fingers around his hand and ever so gently squeezed them. "Speed," she said keeping her voice strong. "We're all here for you. You're going to be fine." She didn't expect a reaction from him but was surprised to feel his fingers very, very slowly close around hers just before she had to release his hand so that he could be pushed into the emergency room.

After, she watched through the emergency room doors as the nurses and doctors started to work on him. Only a few seconds later, she couldn't see Speed anymore because of all who had surrounded him and wanted to help him.

Turning to walk back to everyone else, she saw Mom Racer crying as Pops tried to be strong. A couple of Speed's relatives had shown up and were now taking care of Spritle. Sparky was sitting with his head hanging down. That was it. Trixie wanted to scream that this wasn't happening. She buried her face into her hands and began crying once again and she cried like she never remembered crying before in her life. "Please. Don't die, Speed," she said between gasps for air.

When Racer X pulled up to the hospital, he jumped out of the Mach 5, ran into the hospital and stopped when he saw his family crying in each other's arms. It was a horrible scene and he feared for a minute that they had lost Speed. "Sparky," he said walking over to him. "What did the doctor say?"

Sparky only shook his head that he didn't know anything yet, and it was easy to see that he too had been crying. "They just started working on him," the young mechanic said looking towards the emergency room doors.

Racer X turned to the doors to Trixie who was shaking from her crying, her face in her hands.

Slowly he walked towards her, put a hand on her shoulder, and then just barely said her name.

She instantly recognized the voice even though it didn't sound as tough as it usually did. As she turned around, they hugged and she cried into his shoulder. "Please tell me he's going to pull through this, Racer X."

"He will," he said hoping with all of his heart that he was right.

"I…I don't understand what happened! Why did that man torture Speed? Nobody deserves that."

"I know. I know, " Racer X said trying to console her.

"He's still out there too," Trixie said sounding scared.

"Believe me," Racer X said with anger. "I swear I will find him if it's the last thing I ever do."

Sparky watched the two hugging as tears kept filling his eyes. He couldn't get the sound of Speed's heavy breathing out of his mind. "Hang in there, Buddy," he said sadly.


	4. Awake and Afraid

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_Thanks for the reviews!_

**Chapter 4: Awake and Afraid**

Fighting for his life, Speed had been in the emergency room for a good eight hours. To the Racer family and friends, it felt even longer as they waited in silence in the waiting room. No one attempted to make conversation at all since they were each too busy in their own thoughts, thinking of their relationship with Speed.

Racer X had been leaning on the wall letting his head flood with memories. His arms were folded as he remembered the time his parents first brought Speed home as a baby. Speed had been a little, bitty thing with big blue eyes, and a head full of dark hair. At first Racer X, Rex, didn't really bother with Speed, but when he learned to walk, Speed always followed him around. There were times when the young Speed cried to be held, but not by his mother and father, but by Rex. Because of the way Speed always looked up to Rex as they were both growing up, Rex automatically became a second father to Speed. If Rex had been worried about anyone when he decided to disappear, it was Speed. And after he became the Masked Racer, he swore to always watch over his little brother.

Mom Racer sat close to Pops letting him console her through the long hours. She loved all of her sons equally, but Speed was such a loving son - always expressing easily to her what a great mother he thought she was. Raising him had been a true joy. Even giving birth to him had been easy. She hadn't been in labor long when he decided to come into the world two weeks early. Often, she joked that she almost had him on the steps on the way into the hospital. Such a beautiful baby he had turned out to be with those expressive, blue eyes and the innocent look they held. Now, she could see his eyes vividly in her mind.

Pops held Mom's hand securely thinking of how he had grown closer to Speed the past couple of years. Of course, Pops always loved Speed but without meaning to, Pops had tended to give Rex more attention before his disappearance. Stepping up like a man, Speed had offered to help his father with the things Rex usually did. This and when Speed became a champion racecar driver made Pops very proud.

Sparky sat looking out of a window as he thought about his best friend Speed. They could talk about anything and everything to each other. Cars were one of the main things that they could talk about for hours. They also had fun just hanging out - especially back in high school. When bigger guys picked on Sparky, Speed was always there to defend him, and he had taught Sparky a few things about how to protect himself, which were things Rex had taught Speed.

Spritle idolized Speed. He wanted to be just like his big brother when he grew up. He knew sneaking into the trunk of the Mach 5 was wrong, but he couldn't help himself. There was such a thrill following his big brother around all of the time.

Then there was Trixie. She was the girl in Speed's life, even if it was just as friends for now. Besides Sparky, she was Speed's best friend as well. She was also the one who begged Pops to let Speed be a racecar driver, and Pops did. Now, she sat in this waiting room hugging her legs as her chin rested on the top of her knees while she thought of Speed. He had always made her head turn without even realizing it. He was extremely special to her, and in her eyes no girls ever seemed good enough for him. She remembered how one night she had ended up with an abusive date. Who was there to put him into his place? Speed. He told her he'd never let anyone hurt her, and now she wished there would have been a way she could have kept him from getting hurt.

All of a sudden everyone in the waiting room turned to the doctor who had stepped out of the emergency room. Quickly they all stood up to hear what the doctor had to say.

"Please. Tell us how he is" Pops said still holding his wife's hand.

The doctor himself looked exhausted after such a long surgery. "Okay," Dr. Larsen said ready to explain things. "The reason why Speed was having problems breathing is because he has numerous broken ribs. A person's ribs are suppose to protect the internal organs. For the most part they did, but one of his broken ribs punctured a lung. There was some internal bleeding but nothing we weren't able to fix during surgery."

Mom Racer squeezed Pop's hand as she asked, "Does that mean he's going to be okay?"

At first the doctor, Dr. Larsen, didn't look like he wanted to answer. "I think he'll pull through it," he finally said with a smile. "That boy…no excuse me. I mean that _man_ is a fighter. I've never seen someone hang on that long in that kind of pain. We finally had to give him something to knock him out."

A tear ran down Pop's face as he smiled proudly, and everyone silently thanked God that Speed was still with them.

Racer X was standing between Sparky and Trixie and happily put his arms around their shoulders.

"Also," Dr. Larsen said, wanting to continue, "Speed's nose had been broken. I realigned it and put an antibiotic ointment on it. The swelling should go down in about a week or two and then it should be fine. Now, if he had something like…a broken arm, it would be easy because he just wouldn't use it. However, with broken ribs, he still has to breath - so unfortunately he'll be in a lot of pain. There's not too much we can do because the ribs have to heal naturally, which can take anywhere from four to six weeks."

"Can't you give him anything for the pain?" Trixie asked, feeling Speed had been in enough pain already.

"As of now he's on Morphine but I can't keep him on that long. I'll give him something else after but it won't be as strong."

"When can we see him?" Mom Racer asked a bit impatiently.

"You can see him now," the doctor said. "Just remember that he'll be out of it for a while."

Even though Trixie was desperate to see Speed, she eventually watched everyone at different times go in to see him before her. It had been a good hour when Mom Racer approached her. "Mrs. Racer," Trixie said just before it was her turn to see Speed. "Do you mind if I stay here with Speed tonight?"

Mom Racer knew she had to take care of Spritle, who was having a tremendously hard time with what had happened to his big brother so smiling with tears in her eyes, she put a hand on Trixie's face and said, "I think Speed would like that, and I _know_ he'd do the same for you."

Tears were also in Trixie's eyes as she smiled back feeling grateful for Mom Racer's kind words.

The young girl then made her way to Speed where he was in Intensive Care. She passed up Pops and Racer X, who were speaking to a policeman about guarding Speed. That sick excuse for a human being, the look alike, was still out there somewhere. They had to assume that he would try to finish Speed off.

Once in the Intensive Care Unit, Trixie ever so slowly began to move towards Speed. She stopped next to his bed and covered her mouth just at the sight of him. Tears ran down her face as she thought that he didn't look like the young, strong man she knew. However, she knew that most people wouldn't have survived what he had gone through. Moving her hand away from her mouth, she wiped her tears away, telling herself that she had to be strong for him. He needed positive energy now. She noticed his breathing wasn't as loud and was at a more steady rhythm, and she wished so much that she could see his beautiful, bright, blue eyes looking back at her. Instead, they were hidden behind the lids of a very swollen and bruised face. There was a bandage on his nose and quite a few machines hooked up to him.

A nurse who was probably in her fifties suddenly walked up to Trixie, and said, "Mrs. Racer said you are staying here tonight. I'm sorry that all we have is this chair for you in Intensive Care."

"Oh that's okay," Trixie said looking at the chair on the side Speed's bed, not caring at all about her own comfort.

"Are you his girlfriend, Dear?" the nurse asked with a smile.

"Uh…no. But we're really good friends," Trixie said looking back at Speed.

Not saying that she could see that it was something more, the nurse only said, "If you need anything, don't hesitate to let me know."

"Thank you," Trixie said keeping her eyes on Speed as the nurse walked away. Her eyes soon began to scan over him while she knew in her heart that she was very much in love with him.

Suddenly she couldn't seem to stop herself as she moved closer to his side and began to lean her face very close to his. She then lowered her face till her lips were only an inch or so away from his face, and she whispered in a very soft yet emotional voice, "I love you." After, she just barely brushed his cheek with a soft kiss. She had never told a man those three words before and with Speed, she truly meant it.

After just watching him sleep for quite a while, she actually fell asleep in that chair on the side of his bed.

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The next morning, Trixie was still sleeping as she began to dream. She dreamt that she woke up to Speed, who was smiling at her.

_Surprise was an understatement for how Trixie felt. "Speed! How did your face and your body heal so fast?" she asked seeing him sitting on the hospital bed wearing his normal clothes."_

_"Trixie. You knew I'd be alright," he said with a wink. "Besides. I'm supposed to take you out. You didn't think I'd forget. Did, you?"_

_"Speed...are you sure you're okay?" she asked in disbelief._

_"Sure. Now come on," he said with a smile as he took her hand._

"Trixie…Trixie Dear," Mom Racer said trying to wake Trixie up.

The young girl opened her eyes and was brought back to reality quickly. She turned her head to Speed who was still in very critical condition - very far from how he was in her dream.

"You were dreaming about Speed," Mom Racer said with a smile.

"How do you know?" Trixie asked, caught off guard.

"You were saying his name in your sleep," Mom Racer said turning to look at her son.

Trixie then stood up ignoring the pain in her back from sitting up all night in that uncomfortable chair. "I dreamt that he was ready to leave the hospital."

Mom smiled back at Trixie and then the two hugged.

After the hug, Trixie asked, "How's Spritle?"

"He's doing a little better now but I couldn't get him to stop crying last night. He finally cried himself to sleep in my arms."

"Poor little thing," Trixie said softly, all too fully aware of how much he loved his older brother.

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The rest of the day, Speed continued to be in a deep sleep, which the doctor insisted was good since Speed needed all of the rest he could get.

After Trixie was practically forced to go home to shower, she showed right back up at the hospital. Again she stayed the night but this time Speed was a in a private room filled with tons of flowers and get-well cards from his family, friends and fans.

It was very late that night when he finally opened his eyes and noticed that one wouldn't open all the way. The first thought that crossed his mind was that he made it - that he was indeed alive. After that beating and all of that pain, he was still alive. He was glad but also scared because of what had happened to him. Breaking his thoughts, he realized someone was holding his hand. Turning his head very, very slowly, he saw that it was Trixie. She was lying back in a chair sleeping.

He looked around the room at all of the flowers and then back to his sweet friend. Gently, he squeezed her hand and watched as she opened her eyes.

Upon realizing that Speed was awake, she lifted her head and leaned to him with a smile of relief on her face.

"I'm so glad you're awake," she whispered now holding his hand in both of hers as she saw the uncertainty in his eyes. Or was it fear?

Slowly he lifted his free hand and touched his face.

In a soft voice, Trixie said, "Your doctor, Dr. Larsen, said the swelling will go down soon."

Speed now specifically touched his nose where he could feel the bandage.

Trixie tried to smile like it was no big deal as she said, "Your nose was broken but Dr. Larsen fixed it and it will be fine in a couple of weeks."

Speed then slowly pulled his hand out of Trixie's and touched his rib area with both of his hands, again looking at her for the answers.

"You have some broken ribs and one punctured your lung, but you're going to be fine. Unfortunately, you just might be uncomfortable for a few weeks."

Speed still didn't try to speak as he looked back at her.

"Are you in any pain now?" she asked concerned.

Slowly, he shook his head no. Though he did feel some pain, it was nothing like what he had felt when he was being beaten. At that thought, he turned his head away from Trixie - not wanting her to see his eyes water from the thought of what that man had done to him.

Not wanting to push him to speak, Trixie stayed silent, just glad that he knew she was there.

After a few seconds, Speed turned his face back to hers and stared into her eyes. To him she was a beautiful sight to look at after the horrible ordeal he had been through.

"I should probably get the doctor and call your family," she said, about to stand up.

Speed again shook his head no, and then lifted his hand out to her.

Trixie took his hand immediately. Knowing the hell he had been through, she would do as he wished without hesitation. "I'm not leaving the room. I'll stay with you," she whispered looking tenderly into his eyes.

He knew she had read his mind like she normally did since he didn't want to be alone when he felt so helpless. However, she didn't know that it was only her that he wanted near him at the moment. With her being there, his being scared wasn't all he was thinking about. A sweet dream of her saying three special words to him, lay heavily on his mind. That dream was much, much better than what he had suffered in reality. It helped to push the torture he had been though out of his mind.

Trixie suddenly leaned closer to him and to his surprise, she kissed his forehead, leaving her lips on him for a good few seconds. She wished so badly that she could hold him in her arms and tell him that she'd always be by his side no matter what physical condition he was in. Adding to Speed's surprise, she gently ran her fingers through his hair while she gave him a sweet smile. He had often dreamt of her touching him this way and now he wondered if this affection was from her as a friend or more.

Wishing she could comfort him more, she watched her fingers disappear into his jet, black hair, and then she whispered, "Rest. Remember, I'm not going to leave you."

His tired eyes continued to look at her while enjoying her sweet caress. He almost had to wonder if he was dreaming again. And even though he wanted to continue to look into her eyes, he felt his eyes getting heavier.

She watched as his eye lids closed, and was glad that he seemed to be at ease with her there.

A little while later, Speed heard whispering but didn't open his eyes as he realized that it was Trixie and the doctor speaking to each other.

"I'm sorry I didn't let you know when he woke up," Trixie said, feeling badly.

"It's okay," Dr. Larsen said checking the equipment hooked up to Speed. "I'm just glad you got him to keep resting. Maybe you should take a break and go home for a little while."

"No. I'd rather stay here," Trixie said, not about to leave.

"Well at least go down to the cafeteria and get something to eat," the doctor suggested.

"I already made up my mind that I'm not leaving this room," she said as calmly as possible.

Dr. Larsen knew he was fighting a losing battle so he gave up.

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The afternoon of the next day, Speed woke up again. This time Trixie wasn't the only one there, though she was in the room's bathroom at the minute, but Speed's parents were now there as well. Both Mom Racer and Pops kissed him and smiled, glad to see him awake.

"Hi, Honey," Mom said taking his hand.

He gave her a little smile, trying to ignore the pain that was stronger now than it was when he had woken up the first time.

Sounding overly cheerful, compared to the normal Pops, Pops said, "Can we get you something? I'll get anything you want."

Speed almost had to laugh but he knew that would hurt him tremendously as he slowly shook his head no that he didn't want anything.

"Trixie doesn't want to leave you side," Mom Racer said in a praising voice.

"Here she is now," Pops said as the door to the bathroom opened. "Trixie," Pops said happily. "Look who's awake"

"Speed's awake?" Trixie asked happily. She then moved closer to his side and said softly and with a smile, "Hi."

He smiled back remembering the first time he woke up to see her. By how they were looking at each other, some might swear that they had done more than handholding the night before as their eyes stayed locked.

Suddenly, the door to the room opened and in entered the doctor.

"Hi, Speed. I'm Dr. Larsen and I'm glad to see you awake," the man in the white coat said standing at the foot of the bed.

Speed was very grateful for all the doctor had done so he held his hand up.

Dr. Larsen then walked to the side of his patient's bed and shook his hand. "I'm not just your doctor," Dr. Larsen said. "I'm also a big fan of yours."

Speed didn't want to think about racing right now but nodded a thank you to the doctor.

Dr. Larsen then went over Speed's condition with him before leaving the room.

When Speed's parents and Trixie gathered around him once again, Speed whispered extremely low, "Did they...catch the man...who did this to me?"

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_Will poor Speed freak out when he finds out that the Look Alike hasn't been captured yet?_

_Will Trixie jump into bed with Speed because she's tired of sleeping in the chair! Just kidding!_


	5. Facing Reality

﻿

**Chapter 5: Facing Reality**

Speed had just whispered his first words since he had been attacked, which were, "Did they find the man who did this to me?"

Pops, Mom Racer and Trixie looked at each other - their eyes big. How were they going to break the news to Speed? Could he even handle it in his condition?

Because no one answered, Speed turned his face away in disappointment as flashbacks of the beating made him squeeze his eyes shut tightly until they hurt.

"Son," Pops said trying to get Speed to look at him. "You have protection. We have a guard outside this room and he will stay there until the man is found."

This didn't make Speed feel any better because he had seen the determination on the look alike's face to make him suffer. Fear ran through his mind as he clearly remembered his head being held by the man as the man stared into his eyes and said coldly, _Don't worry. I will kill you soon. _That sick man made him suffer badly and the man had enjoyed every second of it.

It broke Trixie's heart to see Speed feeling so vulnerable and she couldn't help but wonder if he'd ever be the same.

Pops knew he had to assure Speed that everything was going to be alright so he tried to sound positive as he said, "All the TV stations are showing how the police are working on the case."

Mom Racer knew she had to be strong for her son as well so she said, "Inspector Detector is very upset. He said it's his top priority to find the man."

Trixie shook her head agreeing with Pops and Mom Racer as she said, "Racer X told me that he'll find the man if it's the last thing he ever does."

Speed remembered the sound of the Shooting Star approaching and scaring the man into the woods. He owed the Masker Racer for saving his life at quite possibly the very last minute.

"The Masked Racer always comes through for you," Mom Racer said glad that Speed had a guardian angel.

Smiling, Trixie said, "He was here before when you were asleep, and he said to tell you that he'll be back to see you."

"You now have some of his blood," Pops said truly grateful to Racer X.

Not knowing what Pops mean, Speed only looked at him strangely.

Trixie could see that Speed wasn't going to ask so she said, "You needed blood during surgery and Racer X insisted that they check to see if he had the same blood type as you. Can you believe that he was a perfect match?"

For a brief second Speed thought it was actually cool that he had some of the Masked Racer's blood, but then reality hit him fast at the thought of the reason why he needed blood in the first place.

Pops decided to cheer Speed up by bringing up racing. "The other drivers were so worried about you that they almost didn't continue the race. No one wanted to participate but then after a while, the racers decided to finish it for _you_."

"Your friend Doug won," Mom Racer said thinking Speed wanted to know. "And he dedicated his award to you."

Speed didn't even acknowledge any of what they were saying about the race because racing was not something he wanted to think about now or possibly ever again.

Disturbing them, there was a knock on the door. Pops soon opened it and the guard who was guarding the door told him that there was a reporter wanting to speak to Speed.

Mom Racer forced herself to stay calm as she said, "I'll handle this." She really wanted to go give the reporter a piece of her mind since the person obviously didn't care about how upset Speed was over the horrible thing that had happened to him.

Pops grinned as Mom Racer walked out of the room and then he followed her saying, "I better go with your Mom since I have a few things to tell the reporter too."

Trixie watched Pops leave and was smiling when she turned back to Speed. "I feel sorry for that reporter," she said imagining both Mom Racer and Pops telling the reporter off.

Though it was small, Speed finally smiled and then held his hand out to Trixie.

Moving closer to him, Trixie gladly took his hand while thinking how happy she was that their little hand holding session was starting once again.

Speed was also thinking the same thing, because as best friends they never held hands like this before. Now after the tragedy he had gone through, she was really there for him like always. However, something suddenly started to haunt Speed's thoughts, making him begin to squeeze her hand too tightly.

Trixie felt the tight grip he had on her hand and then she saw the tense look on his face. "Speed," she said concerned. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Calming down, he stopped squeezing her hand and forced the horrible thought out of his mind. The unfortunate thought was of what the look alike might have done to Trixie if she would have been with him in the race.

"Do you want me to get the doctor?" she asked not completely sure if he was okay.

Speed shook his head no while seeing the doubt on Trixie's face as she worried about him once again.

Listening to him and not calling the nurse or doctor, she pulled her chair closer to his bed and sat down. To her surprise, he began to speak.

"You…you...look tired," he whispered slowly looking at the dark circles under her eyes.

"I'm fine," she said so glad to hear him speak even if it was only a whisper.

"I must look...like hell," he whispered while imagining the bandage on his nose and what his aching face must look like.

"No. I've seen a lot worse," she said with a smile.

"That's good to know," he whispered back slower than his other whispers.

"Speed. If it hurts, you don't have to talk."

"If I whisper...it doesn't seem to hurt all that bad."

"Okay, but don't if you don't want to because I can pretty much read your mind, Buddy," she said playfully.

"You always could," he whispered beginning to move his thumb back and forth over her hand.

Trixie looked down at their hands feeling a blush forming on her face just from Speed's caress. When she looked back at him, his eyes were closed, which caused her to yell in her head at herself, _Trixie! Are you flirting with him? __He's in critical condition and here you are acting like a lovesick teenager. What is wrong with you! The medication he's on probably has him not even knowing what he's doing._

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During the middle of the night Speed's name being whispered over and over woke him up. Though Trixie wasn't holding his hand, it was definitely her voice saying his name. Turning his head to the direction her voice was coming from, he saw her lying on her side, asleep on a cot. It felt weird looking at her as they were both lying down.

She then whispered his name again.

Even though the cot was close, it wasn't close enough for him to reach out his hand to wake her up out of her nightmare.

Again she whispered his name but this time with a smile. Speed then realized it wasn't a nightmare she was having. She wasn't dreaming about what had happened to him at all.

"Oh, Speed," she whispered again and followed that by a giggle as she tightly gripped her pillow.

Speed's eyes widened more than ever since being in the hospital, especially when she let out a soft sigh as she rolled onto her back. With great interest he waited to see if she would say something else but to his disappointment, she didn't.

_Damn, _he thought disappointed. _I wanted to hear her say something about me or even better, say what we were doing with each other._ He smiled as he turned his head away from her and then seeing the machines hooked up to him, his smiled disappeared. Reality kicked him hard, making him remember how helpless he was. He hated how he felt, the fear he felt, the distrust he now had and the horrible pain just to breathe. It felt as if someone stole his body and his strength away from him. A darkness filled him as he found himself wishing he wouldn't have made it. At least if he was dead, he wouldn't be so scared anymore. He had never been afraid of anything in his life and now he knew he was petrified of that man coming back to finish him off.

Suddenly he heard Trixie sigh softly again. He turned his head back to her wishing he could have really been in that dream with her - away from reality. At that second, he realized that he shouldn't have wished he was dead. It was selfish. Even if Trixie and he would be just friends forever, she still needed him and so did his family. He couldn't give up on life knowing how much they wanted him alive.

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The next morning, Speed opened his eyes to find Trixie sitting up in the chair and staring out into space while holding his hand once again. She was smiling and it made him wonder just what she was thinking about.

She was definitely in another world, lost in the thoughts of her dream. It had been the second dream she had about Speed since being in the hospital. This one too started with him being perfectly fine as he pulled her by the hand out of the hospital room.

_Not even remembering how they got there, they were suddenly sitting on a blanket in the park. There Speed pulled her into his arms and they started to kiss. Surprising her, he began to tickle her, making her squirm all the way down across the blanket. When her laugher stopped, she noticed the beautiful, blue sky up above and she whispered Speed's name. He responded by moving over her and giving her another kiss. Her arms wrapped around him as the kiss deepened. _

Speed lay in the hospital bed smiling at Trixie who was way into space now. "Trixie," he finally whispered making her blush from the thought of his lips on hers.

"Oh...Speed," she said almost too embarrassed to look at him.

Loving that cute little look on her face, he said, "You were totally swept away."

"You don't know how much," she said pushing her hair behind her ear.

"Well...I see they brought you a cot to sleep on."

"Yes, they did," Trixie said giving the cot a quick glance before she looked back at Speed. "I guess they finally figured out that I'm not leaving you."

Sounding so sincere, he whispered, "Thank you."

"I think you're worth it," she said teasingly.

The sound of the door opening made them both look to see Racer X. Wanting to welcome him, Trixie stood up.

After closing the door, the Masked Racer then sat down on the chair on the vacant side of Speed's bed.

"I'm going to give you two sometime alone," Trixie said thoughtfully knowing that Speed might want to speak with Racer X in private.

The Masked Racer nodded a thank you to her as he turned his face to his brother's. "How are you doing?" he asked as Trixie left the room.

Speed ignored the question and whispered, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Racer X said, but down deep he really wished he would have gotten to Speed sooner, before the look alike had done as much damage as he had.

"I really thought I was dead," Speed admitted.

"Not if I'm around," the Masked Racer said with certainty.

Grateful emotions took over Speed making him turn his face away from Racer X.

Racer X knew he had to change the subject. "Doug, the winner of the race, insisted that he really didn't win. He said as soon as you're better, he wants to race against you."

Looking at the Masked Racer, Speed only shook his head no.

"We'll see," Racer X said not believing his brother. "When the times comes, no one will be able to stop you."

Speed didn't say anything as he wished Trixie was back. At least she didn't seem to care if he ever raced again.

"Anyway," Racer X began, "I hate to leave so fast but I have some business to take care of." He had already been in the woods the past few days looking for clues on the look alike. Today would be no exception.

"Hey," Sparky said entering the room with Trixie.

Trixie looked at Racer X as if to say she tried to stop Sparky.

"I should be going anyway," the Masker Racer said standing up. He was ready to continue his search for the look alike.

Speed whispered thank you again and the Masked Racer just told his younger brother to get better and then left.

"How are you doing, Buddy?" Sparky asked happily, trying to lift Speed's spirits.

"I'm still alive," Speed only whispered not sounding happy about it.

"Of course, you are," Sparky said really not knowing what else to say to that.

"He's very much alive," Trixie said winking at Speed.

Speed caught Trixie's wink just before she turned to fool with some of the flowers that were in the room. He wished so much that they would have been able to go on that date together.

Sparky noticed Speed's sudden smile and asked, "What are you smiling about? Is it the drugs or have there been a lot of pretty nurses in here?"

Shaking his head no to Sparky, Speed's smile left his face.

Trixie didn't turn to see Speed's reaction, in fear that he would be smiling over the pretty nurses. She just continued to rearrange the flowers.

"Sparky," Speed whispered changing the subject. "Please put the TV on."

"Alright," Sparky said walking to it to turn it on. He flipped through the stations until Speed told him to stop on a station that usually showed a lot of news.

Trixie walked over to the side of the bed knowing that Speed wanted to see if they had any clues on finding the look alike. At the moment, the weather was on.

Sparky stayed quite a while, even after his friend fell asleep.

"How does he seem to you?" Sparky asked Trixie as they stood by the window together. "He doesn't talk too much."

"He's been traumatized," Trixie said as if Sparky should understand. "He's still shook up."

"I know. I just hope mentally that he'll be okay," Sparky said concerned.

"We'll get him through it," Trixie said confidently. "Right now I'm just trying to keep him calm in hopes that it will help speed up his recovery."

Just after Sparky left, Trixie went into the bathroom. A minute or so later as she was coming out, she realized that Speed wasn't okay. He looked extremely upset with his eyes wide. His hands were on his ribs and the monitors were all beeping faster than they should have been.

"Speed!" she cried out running to him. "What's wrong?"

He was staring up at the TV with tremendous fear in his eyes.


	6. Revealed

﻿

**Chapter 6: Revealed**

Speed stared up at the TV with complete and utter fear in his eyes.

"Speed! What's wrong!" Trixie cried out as her eyes soon followed his to the television.

On the TV was Speed tied to the tree - being beaten by the look alike. Blood was running down his face and onto his shirt as the look alike ruthlessly continued to strike him over and over.

Feeling sick to her stomach, Trixie hated the news for showing the horrible scene on TV. There was absolutely no reason for all to see it again. In a panic she looked around for the remote control but couldn't find it. Because she couldn't reach the TV that was up high on the wall, she jumped up swinging her hand. With that one swing she had been able to pull the plug of the television clear out of the wall, and then she heard Speed breathing loudly as if he was reliving the whole beating.

Quickly she ran to the side of his bed to see that his eyes were still wide and full of terror. "Please," she said as her eyes began to water. "Speed. You have to calm down or you're going to make yourself worse."

She saw the disturbed look on his face and the tears fill his eyes as he continued to breathe heavily.

"No!" Trixie demanded as tears ran down her face. "Don't let him do this to you again!"

The tears started to roll out of his own eyes as he stared at the now blank TV, not appearing to calm down at all. Over his loud breathing, he finally heard Trixie's voice, insistent on getting through to him.

"Please, Speed. I can't live without you," she said begging him to acknowledge her because she wanted him to stop reliving that awful day.

Trixie's words, _I can't live without you, _suddenly began to run through his mind over and over making the scenes of the beating start to disappear. He slowly turned his face towards hers to see her tears as she knelt on the chair on the side of his bed, leaning very close to him.

Seeing his eyes on her, she put her hand on his face and leaned her forehead on to his. Closing her eyes, she whispered very emotional, "I can't lose you. I just can't."

The monitor's beeping began to slow down as did Speed's heart rate. He felt her tears falling on to his face mixing with his own. He ignored the fear and pain he was in as he gripped the sheets tightly with his hands. It was as if he was reminding himself that he was safe in the hospital room. Feeling the sweet female's breath on his face, he started to feel something else rather than the pain and horrible remembrance of the beating. His emotions seemed to be out of his control as he started to focus on his new feelings, which had been developing for Trixie. Thank Goodness those feelings were more powerful than his memory of the torture.

After a few seconds, Trixie backed away to look at Speed as she wiped her tears away. This day had been the first time she had seen tears run down his face since Rex had disappeared. She knew there had been a number of reasons for Speed being so upset now. The obvious one was that he didn't like seeing himself being tortured. Seeing the look alike too was enough to throw him into his panic as well since that horrible day all came back to him. She also guessed he didn't like the thought of everyone else seeing him being beaten and not fighting back.

Rapidly, Dr. Larsen suddenly ran into the room with a couple of nurses. Some of the monitors had alarmed the nurse's station that something was wrong.

After Speed was thoroughly checked over, Dr. Larsen gave him a small lecture on staying calm. The doctor didn't actually know what had set Speed off but knew it was better for his patient's health if he stayed calm no matter what.

A few minutes later Speed was left alone once again with Trixie.

Feeling like a coward, Speed stared up at the ceiling and whispered, "Now I know everyone saw the beating on TV."

Leaning closer to him, Trixie took his hand as he continued to stare away from her. "Listen to me" she said in a strong voice. "What happened to you was out of your control." Being his rock, she said in an even stronger voice, "Forget your damn pride. There was nothing you could do to defend yourself after that truck almost killed you. Don't you realize how many people wouldn't have even survived all that that jerk did to you?"

Speed looked at her in amazement. Once again she had read his mind knowing he had felt like less of a man since he hadn't been able to fight back.

Trixie had a strong determination in her eyes as she said, "If that fight would have been fair, you, me and everyone else knows that you would have knocked him to hell and back."

Speed watched as a tear of anger rolled out of one of her green eyes. He had never felt closer to anyone else than he did to her at that very moment. Her words had honestly made him feel better since what she thought meant so much to him. Lifting his hand to her face, he then wiped her tear away. "Thank you," he whispered, his hand still on her face.

"You don't need to thank me. It's the truth," she said honestly as she covered his hand with hers.

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Two weeks later, Speed was looking much better. Unfortunately the pain from his ribs didn't seem to hurt him much less. Because of Dr. Larsen's orders, Speed had very carefully managed to walk around a bit; preparing to go home. There wasn't a medical reason why he couldn't recuperate with his family.

In Speed's room, both Sparky and Trixie were talking to him a few days before he was to go home. "With that bandage off your nose you look much better," Sparky said raising his eyebrows to the female in the room. "Trixie. Don't you think Speed looks...fine?"

Trixie gave Sparky an unpleasant look before she turned to Speed and said, "Yes. His nose looks fine."

"That's all I meant," their mechanic friend said because of the look Trixie had given him. "I can't even tell that his nose had been broken."

Speed didn't know that Trixie wanted to slap Sparky at that moment. He also didn't know how badly Sparky had teased Trixie before the attack by drilling her on whether she was crazy about Speed or not.

"I'm just glad that my whole face feels better," Speed said not missing that aching feeling. "Now if I could just get my ribs to feel better."

"That reminds me," Trixie said in a serious voice. "We have to do your breathing exercises some time today."

"Don't remind me," Speed said not liking the exercise.

"Sorry," she said glad that she could hear his voice so clearly again.

"Well…I have to be going," Sparky said knowing there was somewhere else he should be. "Pops and I are going to have the Mach 5 in better shape than ever."

Not saying anything, Speed didn't care about anything to do with racing at the moment.

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Later on that day, Racer X walked in on Speed who was doing his breathing exercises. He had a pillow supporting his chest as Trixie told him when to take a deep breath.

When the door to the room first opened, Speed had to control himself from jumping. He just couldn't shake that nervous feeling of the look alike getting past the guard and into the room. "Good" he said relieved to see Racer X. "I need a break."

"You did great, Speed," Trixie said as she helped him lay back down.

"I see you're getting better," Racer X said smiling at his brother.

"Is that what this is?" Speed asked not feeling any better at the moment.

"You'll be better before you know it," the Masked Racer said sitting down in a chair on the side of Speed's bed.

"I have to talk to you," Speed said seriously as he looked at Racer X.

Wanting to give them some privacy, Trixie said, "I'll leave you two alone."

"No, Trix," Speed said looking at her. "I want you to hear this. You two are the only ones that I can tell this to right now because I can't bring myself to tell Pops and Mom just yet."

"Alright. I'll stay," she said sitting down on the other side of the bed from Racer X.

There was a pause and then Speed began to speak. "I hate to say this and I hope that I am wrong, but I think I might know who did this to me."

"Who?" both Trixie and Racer X asked at the same time.

"In my heart, I find it hard to believe that he would have done this. I really do. It's just that, maybe he went out of his mind or something."

"Who?" both Trixe and the Masked Racer asked again.

Speed paused again and his lips quivered a bit as he said, "I...think...I think my brother, Rex, did this to me."

Both Trixie and Racer X were speechless.

"Why would you think that?" Racer X finally asked.

"His size, but especially the resemblance," Speed said wishing he was wrong.

"Speed," Racer X said almost sounding aggravated. "That could have been some sort of mask or even make up."

"Are you going to help me or not?" Speed asked so scared. "Believe me. I don't want to believe that it was him."

Racer X then rubbed the back of his head with his hand and said "Why do you think your older brother would want to hurt you this way?"

Trixie noticed the hurt in Racer X's voice and wondered why it was there. And deep down she didn't think the Rex she knew could ever hurt Speed.

Sounding upset, Speed said, "I know this will sound crazy too, but you never know what is in someone's mind. Maybe Rex is upset that Pops let me race."

Folding his arms, the Masked Racer said "There's more to that story than you know."

"Speed," Trixie said sounding confused. "You have always spoken so highly of Rex. Are you sure it could have been him?"

"I don't want to believe it, Trixie," he said looking at her with frustration written all over his face. He then turned to Racer X and said, "More to that story? How would you know what went on between my father and Rex?"

"Just listen to me," the Masked Racer said now putting his hands on his knees. "Your brother would never hurt you. Believe me."

"I never thought he would before but who else looks somewhat like me?" Speed asked wishing Racer X had the answers.

"Just know that it couldn't have been your brother." the Masked Racer said hating this conversation.

"Then who did this to me?" Speed said raising his voice and causing himself pain in the process.

Trixie put a hand on his shoulder and said calmly, "Speed. You have got to calm down."

Meanwhile Racer X stood up and walked over to the door shocking Speed that he was just going to leave. However, to Speed's surprise, the Masked Racer wasn't leaving but locking the door.

He then turned around and said, "Speed. I know it wasn't your brother who did this to you because…"

Speed and Trixie watched as Racer X very slowly pulled his mask off. "I would never hurt you, Speed."

Trixie's eyes grew wide as she just barely whispered, "Racer X is your brother."

Rex looked like a much older Speed but not exactly like Speed, like the look alike had.

"Rex," Speed whispered in disbelief as he blinked his eyes to make sure that he wasn't seeing things.

"It's really me, Speed," Rex said with a smile - feeling as if a load had been lifted off his shoulders.

"Is it _really_ you," Speed whispered staring at him.

"Yes," Rex said with a smile.

Trixie had both of her hands on her face as she said, "That's why you insisted on the doctors checking to see if your blood was a match to Speed's."

"Yes, Trixie. You're right," Rex answered, then added, "I already knew we had the same blood type"

Trixie couldn't get over how weird it was to hear Racer X's voice coming out of Rex's mouth. She was quite small when Rex had disappeared so she didn't remember his voice.

"I...I can't believe it," Speed said feeling almost betrayed and somewhat foolish. There were times that he had thought Racer X was Rex, but Racer X always convinced him that it wasn't so.

Rex heard the tension in Speed's voice so he said, "I'm sorry. My disappearance had nothing at all to do with you. It was between Pops and me. You are the only reason I didn't want to leave."

"But...you did," Speed said sounding disappointed.

"I'll explain to you another time why I had to," Rex said. "But please know that as soon as I became Racer X, I continued to watch over you. You were and are always my top priority."

Speed knew he could have been very upset at Rex but memories of all the times Racer X had saved him came into his mind. The last memory was of Racer X stopping the look alike from killing him.

"Please forgive me, Speed," Rex said. "But I do have my reasons for what I have done and for why I will continue."

Trixie was totally speechless for the first time in her entire life. She felt that she had no right to say anything at all as she stared in shock at Rex.

Finally after a very long silence, Speed said to Rex, "You should know that I'm proud to have you, Racer X, as my brother."

"You do forgive me then?" Rex asked looking relieved.

"If you forgive me for thinking that you could have done this to me," Speed said staring at his big brother.

"I think it was the drugs talking," Rex joked as he held his hand out to Speed. He would have liked to hug his brother but in Speed's condition it would be better if they just shook hands for now.

Trixie's eyes watered as she watched the two brothers reunite.

Rex then smiled at both Speed and Trixie and said, "Now this is to stay between us. I'm really depending on you two to keep my secret."

"I will," Speed said even though down deep he would love to cheer Mom and Pops up with the news.

"I will too," Trixie said smiling at Rex.

"I know you will, Trixie," Rex said putting his mask back on. "Speed couldn't ask for a better friend than you."

"Thanks," Trixie said hoping that Speed and she would one day be much more.

"I should be going now," Rex said standing up.

"Okay," both Speed and Trixie said at the same time. When Rex left and the door closed behind him, they both looked at each other.

"I can't believe it," Speed said astonished.

"I know," Trixie said still surprised. "We were little when he disappeared but I recognized him right away."

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The next day Trixie caught Speed in deep thought. She whispered to him with a smile on her face, "Are you still thinking about Racer X being you brother?"

"I did that all last night," he said now not sounding happy.

"What's wrong, Speed?"

"Believe me. I am thrilled that Racer X is my brother, but now I'm back to square one on not knowing who did this to me."

It was obvious to Trixie that Speed was scared as she took his hand to make him look back at her. "He's long gone. Just concentrate on getting better. You'll be home in a few days."

"I'm glad you have been here for me," Speed said seriously. "I think I might have gone even more out of my mind than I have if you wouldn't have been here for me."

"Someone had to be here for you," she said like it was no big deal.

"I didn't see any other girls here," he said very seriously as he looked into her eyes. "They're always at the races but when it came to me almost dying, you were the only one here."

Speed and Trixie hadn't seen Spritle standing by the door listening to their conversation. Suddenly, the young child jumped on to the chair next to Speed and said, "Aren't best friends supposed to be there for one another like you two are?"

At Spritle's words, Speed and Trixie just looked at each other.

Speed wondered if Trixie was only helping him as a best friend. Maybe she didn't feel more than that for him.

Trixie too feared that Speed felt nothing more than friendship for her.


	7. Growing Feelings

﻿

**Chapter 7: Growing Feelings**

After showering at home, Trixie was now almost back to the hospital with something very important on her mind. This something important was her relationship with Speed. Pulling into the hospital parking lot, she whispered to herself, "I love little Spritle but I can really strangle him for popping up and announcing what good _friends_ Speed and I are." After parking her car, she turned the motor off but remained sitting in it. With her hands still on the steering wheel, she wondered if Speed even remembered asking her out on a date. She then thought, _A date is what he meant. Isn't it? _Now not so sure, she pushed back into her seat feeling so frustrated.

A few minutes later she opened her car door and then made herself get out. Being brave she thought, _I'm going into that hospital right now and I'm going to ask Speed what the heck is going on between us._

However, just after closing and locking her car, her tune had already changed as she thought, _How can I ask him how he feels about me when I'm sure he's more concerned about his life being in danger? Shame on you, Trixie. _Realizing that she was aggravating herself even more than Sparky did questioning her about Speed, she told herself to shut-up.

Ten minutes later when she was in front of Speed's room door, she smiled at the guard and then pushed it open so that she could go in.

Though Speed wasn't with his parents, Sparky or Rex, Trixie found that he was anything but alone because there were four girls in the room with him. Two of them were on each side of his bed and they were gorgeous.

Sadly Trixie thought, _Why would he want me when he can have anyone he wants?_ What was worse was that she hated seeing the four pretty girls throwing themselves at him.

When Speed noticed the sweet girl in his life, he said, "Trixie. Come over here."

"Uh…I'll be back later," she said feeling embarrassed since she had been caught watching them. "You should continue with...whatever you're doing." She then left before he had a chance to say something to stop her.

"I'm so stupid," she mumbled as she walked down the hall staring at the floor. "I'm still just Speed's good buddy and nothing more."

"Trixie," Racer X said trying to get her attention before she walked right into him.

Stopping, she looked up and said sadly, "Oh…sorry, Racer X."

Glad that she remembered to keep his identity a secret, he then noticed the sour expression on her face so he asked, "Are you alright? Is Speed alright?"

"Oh, Speed's fine alright," she said now sounding aggravated as she glanced down.

"Is something else wrong?" Rex asked wondering why she seemed so down in the dumps.

"No," Trixie said forcing a smile. "Can you just tell Speed that I'll be back later?"

Nodding his head that he would, Rex asked, "Are you sure that you're alright?"

"Yes. Thank you," she said as she began to walk away.

As he began to head to his brother's room, Rex found himself wondering if Trixie and Speed had gotten into an argument. Once to the room, he was about to open the door but then it was pushed open by a pretty girl with long, straight, dark hair. Next, three other girls, just as pretty, left the room; each sure to bat their pretty eyes at the Masked Racer. With a smile Rex then walked into the room to see Speed lying in bed with his face turned towards the window. "Speed. It looks like you had quite a bit of company today."

Speed lost his sad face and then smiled as he looked at his brother. "Rex," he said still in awe that he had his brother back.

"Feeling any better today?"

"Let's just say that the ribs have a long way to go," Speed said with a weary smile. "I'm so sick of lying down but it feels much better than when I sit up."

"It's only going to get better so try not to worry too much," Rex said remembering when he himself had broken some ribs due to some undercover work he had done. However, his injury hadn't been nearly as bad as Speed's.

"It does hurt the slightest bit less," Speed admitted, knowing in time the pain would indeed pass.

"Well…I spoke to Pops about you going home. We're going to make sure that the house is guarded at all times."

"Thanks," Speed said glad that he'd have some protection there. "I just wish that I didn't have to worry about the look alike at all."

"Then don't. Let me worry. I'm not going to give up until I find him."

"Thank you," Speed said sincerely meaning it.

Remembering a certain female's message, Rex said, "Trixie told me to tell you she'd be back later."

"You saw her?" Speed asked as his blue eyes widened.

"Yes, I did," Rex said seeing that Speed was very interested in his answer.

"I don't know why she left," Speed said sounding somewhat upset.

"Tell me exactly what happened," Rex said glad that he could act like a big brother.

"I don't know. She just did."

Suddenly smiling, Rex realized why Trixie looked so upset when she was leaving. "Speed. I'm willing to bet that Trixie saw those four pretty girls here."

"Yeah. They were here when she came."

Pulling up a chair and sitting, Rex asked very seriously, "Speed. What's going on between you and Trixie?"

Speed thought about it for a few seconds and then said, "You know she's my best friend."

Wanting to feel Speed out, Rex asked, "Do you find her attractive?"

After running his hand through his dark hair as he let out a deep breath, he admitted, "Very."

A sudden image of Trixie in her Tom Boy stage ran through Rex's head, and then he said, "So now you think of her as much more than one of the guys?"

Speed knew where his brother was going with his questions. "Look. The whole thing is, is that I don't want to screw up what we already have."

"What you two have could become even better than your friendship," Rex said imagining the two dating. He knew after all that sometimes friends turned into the best lovers.

Frustrated, Speed said, "I'm just not sure how she feels about me."

"You know, I've caught you two holding hands a lot since you've been in here."

Defending why he was confused, Speed said," She only held my hand because she thought I was dying."

Rex folded his arms as he said, "It seems to me that she was pretty jealous after she saw those girls in here. That has to mean she's growing different feelings for you."

"Do you really think that is why she ran out?" Speed asked now hoping she was jealous.

"What do you think?" Rex asked wanting Speed to figure it out.

Suddenly Pops and Mom walked in looking very happy. "We have some good news!" Mom Racer exclaimed with a radiant smile on her face.

"They caught the guy!" Speed asked with excitement.

"Uh...no," Pops said sadly. He then smiled and said, "You're going to be released today. You can go home."

"Today?" Speed asked not knowing if he was ready as he wondered how safe it would be.

"Yes! Today you're coming home," Mom Racer said thrilled.

Pops and Racer X were now on the side discussing how the police would watch the Racer's house.

"I brought you some clean clothes to change into," Mom said lifting up the bag they were in.

Speed was unsure how to feel but smiled for his mother.

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That afternoon before Speed was released, Trixie showed back up at the hospital. After opening the door to his room, she saw him sitting on the bed with his feet on the floor.

At hearing the door open, he turned his face to her and their eyes met.

She didn't move while thinking it had been awhile since she had seen that blue shirt and the white pants he was now wearing. Continuing to stare at him, she wondered why he had to have such stunning, blue eyes as she forced her eyes from his and walked over to the nightstand. Starting to clean up a bit, she picked up some dead leaves from a plant someone sent to him, and said, "I heard that you're going home today."

Not taking his eyes off of her, he said softly, "You left so fast earlier."

"I just figured that...you needed a break from me," she answered; still not looking at him as she fooled with this and that.

"Those girls you saw were some of the hospital staff's daughters. They didn't and don't mean a thing to me," he said wishing Trixie would just look at him.

"You don't have to explain anything to me," she said going about her business.

"Then why do I feel like I do?" he asked while watching her closely.

"You don't," she assured him.

"That's not what the look on your face said before you had left so abruptly."

She wondered what he wanted her to say. Finally, she stopped moving around and stood a couple of feet in front of him. Her eyes were fixed on the floor and her arms were folded over her chest. "I guess I've just been a little spoiled the past few weeks having you all to myself, and I...liked that. The only thing I didn't like..."

Because she stopped speaking in the middle of her sentence, Speed stood up from the bed very slowly and carefully.

Upon hearing him let out a small breath of pain from getting up, Trixie moved her eyes to his.

Daring her eyes to stay on his, he asked, "What didn't you like?"

Being brave and knowing it was now or never, she said, "I didn't like how everyone kept bringing up what good _friends_ we are." With her voice a little unsteady, she added, "I don't want to be just your friend but I'm afraid you might not feel the same way and then I could lose you forever."

Speed felt relief as he stepped very close directly in front of her. "Well," he said making her heart flutter. "I don't want to lose you. I just can't."

Surprised, Trixie remembered telling him those exact words when she had feared for his life after he had seen his beating on TV. Now she was ever so touched that he had obviously taken her words in.

Lifting her chin with his right hand, Speed looked even deeper into her eyes. It felt like forever till he finally brought his face very close to hers and kissed her softly. He became very satisfied when he felt her kiss him back.

Trixie let a small sigh escape her mouth when she felt his left hand move around her waist. Slowly her hands lifted, careful not to touch him around his ribs and she began to wrap her arms around his neck as he very gently pulled her closer against him.

He inched his face away from hers after this, their first, sweet kiss. He then glanced at her pretty, flushed face, seeing that her eyes were still closed. Closing his own eyes once again their lips met for a much stronger kiss like the ones in her dream.

Speed knew he should take it easy because of his ribs but he didn't want to and found that he couldn't stop. Never could he remember a time when kissing a girl felt this good and right.

A slight part of Trixie felt badly for being pressed up against where he hurt while most of her really wanted to get even closer as she drifted off into another world while thinking how wonderful his kiss was.

Suddenly Rex opened the door but quietly backed out with a smile on his face when he saw them in anything but a small kiss. How glad Rex was that his brother was still around to experience being in love - real love.

After the kiss and still in each other's arms, Speed and Trixie smiled at each other.

"Wow," Speed finally whispered. "You can't imagine how long I have wanted to do that."

"Trust me. I can." Trixie said still flushed.

"Oh, really," he said with a devious smile.

"I just feel badly that you were hurting through it."

"What's the name of that song?" Speed asked with a smile. Remembering, he said, "Hurts So Good."

After laughing lightly, Trixie asked, "So we're moving past just being friends?"

Flirting with her, he asked, "Do you really have to ask after that kiss?"

"I'm just so used to seeing you with other girls," she said wondering if he ever knew how much that had started to bother her.

"Um..." Speed let out as he released her. He then took both of her hands in his and backed up to the hospital bed so that he could sit down since it was getting much harder to ignore his ribs. He sat down slowly then looked back at Trixie, who was still standing. Their hands were still linked together when he started to speak. "Do you know why I never got serious with anyone?"

With a smirk on her face, Trixie said, "I figured you were just playing the field."

With a grin himself, he said, "Maybe a little. But really...none of them were ever good enough because I kept comparing them to you."

"You...you did?" she asked totally surprised.

"Yes," he said wishing she hadn't found that so hard to believe.

"So," she said becoming more confident, "I wasn't imagining you staring at me sometimes?"

"No," he admitted. "Was I only imagining you staring at me at times?"

Embarrassed, she said with a smile, "No."

"Well now that we're switching our relationship into another gear," he said knowing that was the only way it could go, he added, "I hope you don't start getting sick of me since I'll be around you even more than before."

"How could I? Don't I already know almost everything about you?"

"You didn't know I was crazy about you," he said softly.

With that and from excitement, Trixie bent down and gave him another sweet kiss.

"Is it just me or do you feel it too?" he asked looking adoringly into her eyes after the kiss.

"If you mean do I feel something I've never felt before...yes," she said loving the feeling.

Not meaning to disturb them, Dr. Larsen walked in and said, "Are you ready to go home, Speed?"

Turning his face to the doctor's, Speed only said, "I guess so."

"Good" Dr. Larsen said. "I was just checking." He was about to leave but he turned around and said, "I think you should know that when you first came in here, I didn't think you would make it. I said this before and I'll say it again. You are a fighter." The doctor then smiled at the new couple and left.

However, Speed didn't feel like a fighter as he stared at the closed door, but when he turned back to Trixie, she was enough to wash that out of his mind for now.

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_How will everyone handle Speed and Trixie's new relationship? Will Speed freak out when he gets home?_


	8. A Sitting Duck

﻿

**Chapter 8: A Sitting Duck**

The time finally came for Speed to go home, and Trixie and his family surrounded him as he was being pushed in a wheel chair towards the hospital doors to leave. The press had to be held back outside by the police because they were a little too eager to get to the young racer. While Speed was being pushed down the halls, closer to the exit doors, he found himself becoming more and more nervous. He kept imagining the look alike coming out of one of the rooms or walking down the hall towards him or simply just waiting for him outside.

"Wait," Speed said as Pops pushed him closer towards the doors.

Pops continued to push his son nearer to the doors since he hadn't heard Speed because of the noise the press was making.

"Wait...wait!" Speed exclaimed much louder sounding almost in a panic.

"Honey," Mom Racer said to her husband. "Speed said to stop."

"What is it?" Pops asked as he stopped pushing Speed just before going through the doors.

"I'm...I'm not ready to go home," Speed said holding on tightly to the wheel chair.

"Why?" Mom Racer asked wondering why he would want to stay in the hospital any longer.

Trixie saw the fear on Speed's face as he looked outside. Remembering how much Speed sometimes hated the attention from the press, she knew they weren't helping. "Speed," the sweet girl said kneeling down by him. "Mom's van is only a few feet away. All we have to do is ignore the press and head right for it."

"Right," Mom Racer said agreeing with Trixie. "You don't have to answer any of their questions."

Nodding his head okay, Speed still feared that the look alike was out there in the crowd just waiting for him. He became more and more paranoid as he thought of how the look alike planned on finishing him off. He wondered if he'd use a gun next time. However, Speed figured that would be too easy because the look alike obviously liked long suffering.

Suddenly Racer X walked in after pushing his way through the press. "Come on. I'll help get him to the van," he said standing in front of Speed.

Speed felt a little better since his bodyguard/brother all in one appeared. However, part of Speed still felt afraid to go outside.

Pops began pushing the wheel chair once again and Speed would have yelled out in protest to stop but in seconds he was pushed into the outside world.

The press yelled different questions to Speed over and over as he just concentrated on getting to the van. He looked down and stared at the ground, not answering one question. It felt like forever till he was finally to the van, though it only took a few seconds.

When the big side door to the van was pushed open, Racer X and Pops both helped Speed stand up.

Speed lifted his head trying to look into the van before he was to get in it, and there in his mind was the look alike sitting in the van with a smile motioning for Speed to join him.

"No!" Speed exclaimed in a panic as he tried to pull away from Racer X and Pops; causing himself pain in the process.

"Speed. What's wrong?" the Masked Racer asked after hearing the fear in his brother's voice.

"Look! He's in the van" Speed cried out, very upset.

Trixie looked into the van to not see anyone. "Speed. The van's empty. Look, I'll get in first."

"No!" Speed yelled fearing for Trixie's life as he forced himself to look back into the van again.

After climbing in, Trixie turned around and gave Speed a smile.

Seeing that the look alike really wasn't in the van, Speed realized his mind was playing tricks on him.

"Come on, Speed," Trixie said holding out her hand to him.

Speed became speechless as Pops and Racer X helped him on to the back seat next to Trixie.

Seeing how nervous he looked, she said, "Speed. You're sweating. Are you okay?"

Keeping his eyes in the van because of not wanting to look outside, he whispered, "Just...just stay by me."

"I plan on it," the sweet girl said moving closer to his side. After taking his hand, she could swear she felt him trembling so she tightened her grip to assure him that everything was okay.

On the way home, Pops and Mom tried to make conversation but Speed didn't say a thing.

Because he was being so quiet, Trixie knew he was down right scared. Releasing his hand, she put her arm around him to soothe him.

He indeed was scared - too scared to talk and too scared to even look outside. He literally felt like a sitting duck just waiting for the look alike to keep his promise of killing him.

Once in front of the Racer's home, Speed started to shake his head no.

"No what?" Trixie asked softly as Mom and Pops jumped out of the van.

"The house should be searched," Speed said looking at it as if it was haunted.

Moving away from Speed, Trixie leaned out of the van to look for Pops. Before she could call Pops over, Speed pulled her back to him by her hand.

Mom Racer then looked in with a smile on her face. "Aren't you two going to get out?"

Trixie smiled as if nothing was wrong and said, "I was just thinking that maybe the house should be searched before we go in."

At first Mom Racer didn't answer but because of the look on her son's face, she could easily tell he was worried. She then said, "A search would be a good idea."

After a good few minutes, Pops went to the van not catching how scared his son was. "The house is fine," he said as he began to guide Speed out of the van.

Once out of the van herself, Trixie quickly put her hand on Speed's shoulder so that he'd know she wasn't leaving his side. His breathing was a bit loud and she had to wonder if it was from the pain he was in or just from his being so nervous.

Unfortunately the press had shown up just after Speed had gotten into the house. Both Mom and Pops quickly ran to the front door to get rid of them.

In the den of the house, Trixie stood in front of Speed, put her hands on his shoulders and looked into his eyes. "You can calm down now. It's safe here," she said just before pulling him into a hug, and she was pleased when she felt him hug her back.

Speed very much enjoyed the feel of Trixie's small frame close to him, in his arms, and he realized he had to get a grip on being so scared. He had to stop thinking that the look alike was going to jump out from every corner. While trying to brave himself up he thanked God that just holding Trixie made him feel better.

When she released him, she said softly, "Do you want to lie down?"

Her eyes had a way of hypnotizing him so he suddenly smiled as he shook his head yes.

"Speed," she said playfully not used to this kind of teasing from him. "Not_ with _me. I mean do you want to rest?"

Because he respected her, he smiled and said, "I knew what you meant."

"I'm glad you're talking again," she said as she took his hand and led him to the sofa.

"Wait," he said tugging back. "I wanna lie back in the recliner."

Trixie knew it was Pop's favorite chair but she wasn't about to argue with Speed in his condition.

As Speed carefully sat down in it, he then very slowly reclined himself back.

When Pops and Mom Racer were finally able to close the door on the press, they walked into their den where Speed was laying back.

Pops leaned over to his wife and pouted to her, "Honey. He's in my chair."

Mom folded her arms, looked back at her husband and whispered, "He's probably a lot more comfortable that way than sitting straight up."

"But that's my chair," Pops said with a sad face.

Before Mom could tell Pops to get over it, Spritle and Chim Chim came running in. One of the Racers' cousins had just dropped them off. Being so little, Spritle and Chim Chim had no problem sneaking through the press.

Spritle ran fast and then jumped into the air ready to land on his big brother to greet him hello.

"Wait, Spritle!" Trixie yelled, catching him in the air before he could land on Speed.

"Spritle!" Mom Racer scolded. "You can't just jump on your brother right now. He's still healing."

"Sorry, Speedy," Spritle said still in Trixie's arms.

"It's okay," Speed said now feeling a lot calmer, even after the thought of Spritle almost pouncing on him.

"Can I get you anything to drink, Speed?" Mom asked him as Trixie put Spritle down.

"No, thanks," he said as he picked up the remote control that was on the small table next to the recliner. Appearing on the TV was coverage of Speed leaving the hospital. The camera had tried to get a better shot of him but his eyes had been fixed on the ground. Because the camera crew couldn't get a view of Speed's face, they became interesting in Trixie and left the camera on her for a good while. The reporter on TV soon announced that she was Speed's navigator or spotter in a lot of races and also one of his closest friends.

"Mom, Pops," Speed said sounding nervous as he turned the sound down on the television. "If the look alike didn't know that Trixie is important to me, he knows now."

Trixie smiled glad that Speed said she was important to him, not grasping on to what he was trying to tell his parents.

However, Mom and Pops knew just what he meant.

"Trixie," Pops said looking worried. "I'm afraid Speed's right."

"What do you mean?" she asked puzzled. "Right about what?"

Mom Racer went on to explain. "We know the look alike wants to hurt Speed. Now he…might want to hurt you too."

"Why?" the young girl asked, confused.

"Because, Trixie," Speed said looking into her eyes. "He knows it would hurt me, if he hurts you."

Trixie didn't know whether to be touched or scared as she looked back into Speed's eyes.

Spritle caught the stare between the two and suddenly remembered something Sparky had said before the attack. Pulling on Trixie's hand to make her bend down to his level, the young boy whispered into her ear, not knowing it was just loud enough for Speed to hear too, "I think I know what Sparky meant when he said you got the hots for Speed. I think Speed's got the hots for you too."

"Shhh..." Trixie mumbled as she blushed while standing back up.

Speed had to smile and then wondered what conversation Sparky had with Trixie.

Mom and Pops were so used to Speed and Trixie being best friends that they didn't catch on that there was more going on between them now.

"Trixie. To be safe, you should stay here with us awhile," Pops said looking out of the window to see a policeman sitting in his car guarding the house.

So glad that his parents agreed with him, Speed said, "Good. That way I won't have to worry about Trixie. Thanks, Mom and Pops."

"You really want me to stay here?" Trixie asked while trying to hide her excitement, forgetting just how serious the situation was.

Speed smiled as he winked a yes back at her.

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Late that night Pops was awakened by a noise coming from the kitchen. Sitting up in his bed, he then looked out of the window to see the police car still parked out front. "Spritle better not be eating this late," he mumbled. "It's 3:00 in the morning."

Once he was heading down the stairs, Pops decided that having a bite to eat right about now did sound like a nice idea. Earlier he had insisted that Speed sleep on the sofa and stay away from the stairs, and Trixie was ordered more or less to stay up in Speed's room. As Pops headed to the kitchen, he looked at the sofa to check on Speed but saw that his son wasn't there. "Good," he whispered assuming Speed was the one making the noise in the kitchen. "I'm glad he got his appetite back." However, disturbing his thoughts, Pops heard some giggling and stopped just before he opened the kitchen door.

Slowly pushing the door open, Pops got a mighty big surprise. Speed and Trixie were locked in a deep kiss. Stunned, Pops just looked at the two for a few seconds then quietly backed out of the room and headed upstairs to his wife.

"You're back," Mom Racer whispered trying to pull Pops down close to her in their bed.

"We can't do anything right now," he said folding his arms and not letting her pull him down. "There's enough…kissing going on in this house right now already."

"What?" Mom Racer asked confused.

"Speed and Trixie are downstairs in the kitchen kissing."

"Kissing?" she asked in disbelief.

"More like…making out," Pops said standing up from the bed.

"What? Are you sure?" she asked sitting up.

"Unless their lips some how got accidentally glued together," Pops said beginning to pace. "I guess we should stop them," he said somewhat unsure.

"Right. I know they're not teenagers anymore but what if Spritle wakes up and sees them?" Mom said making a good point. "You said they were only kissing, right?" she asked standing up.

"Who knows what they could be doing now," Pops said walking out through the door as Mom followed behind.

**Flashback to about 2:30AM that night; before the kiss:**

Trixie was lying in Speed's bed not able to sleep since she couldn't get him off of her mind. She just still couldn't believe that she was now his girlfriend and snuggled in his sheets in his bed. Sitting up, she decided she needed something to drink. Carefully and quietly, she began to head down the stairs. The first thing she did once down was to look towards the sofa to see Speed.

There she saw him roughly turning his head back and forth, and soon he started to say no over and over.

Immediately she ran to him and knelt down by his side. Putting her hands on his shoulders, she very, very gently began to shake him. "Speed," she whispered, "Wake up. You're only dreaming. Wake up."

Opening his eyes, Speed immediately put a hand on his chest as if trying to catch his breath. It was very obvious that he had been dreaming about the attack.

"It's okay now," Trixie whispered while trying to comfort him by running her hand through his jet-black hair.

Turning his head to see her, he admitted, "I hate feeling this way."

"You'll be all healed before you know it," she said knowing that wasn't what he meant.

"I know physically I will feel better but mentally...I've got to tell you," he said very low. "I feel like I'm going crazy sometimes."

"That's to be expected after what you went through. But I know you're going to be alright mentally too. I'll help you every step of the way."

Speed stared back at her wondering what he would do without her. Changing the subject, he asked, "What are you doing down here?"

"I couldn't sleep so I figured I'd get something to drink."

"Are you saying that my bed isn't comfortable?" he joked.

"No," she said smiling back so glad that she didn't have to hide her real feelings for him anymore. "I just couldn't stop thinking of you."

"Good," he said smiling as he began to slowly sit up.

"Where are you going?" she asked standing up.

"I think I need something to drink, too," he said now standing. "Nice robe," he joked knowing she had borrowed it from mom.

"Nice PJs," she joked back eying him up as they started to head to the kitchen.

Once to the kitchen door, Speed stuck his head in first to make sure nothing was wrong and then he flipped the lights on.

Trixie noticed he had waited a few seconds before sticking his head in, and she knew he feared that the look alike could have been there.

When he knew it was safe, they both moved in and headed to the cabinet with the glasses. Their hands bumped when they reached up for the same cabinet causing them to forget about getting a glass as they began to stare at each other.

Speed then placed his hand on the side of her face as his eyes moved from her green eyes and to her sweet, red lips.

No words were needed as they began to lean in for a tender kiss. Plenty of minutes went by when they finally pulled apart.

"Why are we in here again?" Speed asked with a smile.

"Uh...for a drink," Trixie replied in a daze.

**End of Flashback**

Mom Racer and Pops were now just outside of the kitchen. "You open the door," Pops said in a loud whisper.

"You," Mom Racer said not wanting to.

"I did before," Pops said shaking his head no.

"Fine, you…big baby," his wife said and then she pushed the kitchen door open to see Speed and Trixie sitting down at the table innocently drinking some juice.

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_Will Mom and Pops question what is going on between Speed and Trixie? Is the look alike outside of the house? Is he in the house?_


	9. Not in My House

﻿

**Chapter 9: Not in My House!**

Sitting by the kitchen table with their glasses of juice, Speed and Trixie looked up at his parents who had just walked in.

"Excuse me a minute," Mom Racer said smiling as she began to pull her husband back into the den.

Both Trixie and Speed just looked back at each other wondering why Mom left so quickly with Pops.

On the other side of the door in the den, Pops and Mom were having a minor argument.

"Aren't you going to tell them something?" Pops demanded while folding his arms as he looked at his wife. "This isn't a hotel where they can parade around half dressed. Spritle could see them."

"I just want to make sure that you didn't dream about the kiss," Mom Racer said after seeing Speed looking so innocent as he sat at the table - clearly still in a bit of pain.

"Okay, Honey," Pops said angrily. "Let's just pretend that I was in our bed and I did dream that they kissed. Don't you think it's a bit too coincidental that they are down here together at 3:00 in the morning? I'm telling you, their faces were smashed together!"

"Keep your voice down," Mom Racer said not wanting Speed and Trixie to hear.

"Then go tell them something," Pops said pointing to the door. "They can't be down here kissing while everyone else is sleeping."

Mom Racer and Pops were the type of parents who never allowed Speed in the house alone with a girl. Trixie was the only one they had allowed because she had only been his friend.

"I will say something," Mom Racer said firmly but not quite sure how to handle the situation. "I just want to make sure that you're not mistaken about what you saw."

"Mistaken about what I saw!" Pops exclaimed about to explode. "You think I don't know what a kiss is!"

"Alright, alright," Mom Racer said knowing that had to be what he had seen.

Calming himself down, Pops said, "I guess something was bound to happen between the two of them. Our son's a good looking, young man, she's a pretty, young lady, and…they're always together."

Sitting down on their sofa, Mom Racer said, "You know I've told you before that I wouldn't mind if Speed dated Trixie. It's just..."

"I know," Pops said sitting down next to her. "The timing isn't too good."

"No. It's not," she said letting out a deep breath. "They're going to be stuck in this house together for who knows how long until we know they're both safe."

"Well...after that kiss I saw," Pops said, "We're going to have to talk to them. I don't want Spritle learning about the birds and the bees from watching those two."

"Honey, please. I trust Speed and Trixie and he's in no shape to do too much more than kissing."

Pops let out a small laugh. "You should have seen our son just...kissing her. I'm telling you, they were making out big time."

Mom Racer elbowed him just before she stood up. "Speed's almost twenty. I can't tell him that he can't make out with, I mean…kiss Trixie."

"Look," Pops said standing up as well while he held the spot where he had gotten elbowed. "Don't you know what would happen if they were ever careless and Trixie got into...trouble? The press would go nuts."

Mom now got upset. "Control your thoughts! We don't even know how serious they are? That was probably their first kiss."

"Well then way to go son for your first kiss with Trixie," Pops said just before receiving a slap to the back of his head from his wife.

"Ouch!" he spit out as she walked away from him. "Where are you going?"

When Mom Racer opened the kitchen door, Speed and Trixie were caught hugging. Trixie had just helped Speed up when they ended up embracing each other once he was standing.

Mom Racer looked at Speed in his thin PJs and was grateful that Trixie still had the thick robe on. "Uh…kids. Pops and I want to speak to you."

"Okay," Speed said as they all walked out of the kitchen and into the den.

Pops and Mom Racer both gave each other a look when they noticed Speed and Trixie's hands linked together.

"Pops," Speed said walking to the recliner. "I hope you don't mind if I lay in your chair again. My ribs hurt less when I'm in it."

As Speed was getting into the chair, Pops whispered a complaint to his wife, "You better let him know that's my chair and that it will always be _my_ chair."

Mom Racer whispered back sarcastically to him, "Let's just throw him out the house so you can keep your chair all to yourself."

"I bet Trixie wouldn't mind taking him in at her place," Pops said before being elbowed in his other side by his wife.

"Would you please stop doing that?" he practically screamed.

"Then stop making me," Mom Racer said raising her voice as she shook her head at her husband.

Soon they both noticed the silence in the room. They turned to see Speed and Trixie just looking at them as if they were crazy and saw that their son was now reclined back with Trixie standing next to him.

Breaking the silence, Trixie said, "Did you just want to speak to Speed alone? I can go upstairs."

"No, Trixie dear," Mom Racer said walking over to them.

"We want to talk to both of you," Pops said moving next to his wife.

"Before, Pops saw...uh, " Mom Racer said pausing because she wanted to do this nice and calmly. "Pops was down here a little while ago and he saw something."

For a brief moment, Speed thought she meant the look alike and his face turned pale.

"No, Son. It has nothing to do with the look alike," Mom Racer said at seeing her son's scared expression. "Everything is fine. Pops just saw something that's got us both a little…concerned."

"What did he see?" Speed asked curiously.

"Well...he said, he saw...uh…"

Cutting in since Mom Racer couldn't seem to get it out, Pops said, "I saw you two attacking each other in the kitchen"

Mom Racer's head spun around to her husband's. "Must you say attacking? You said they were making out." Mom then covered her mouth embarrassed.

Speed was smiling while Trixie's face became the same color as an apple as they looked at each other. Speed then turned to his parents. "Trixie and I were going to tell you that we're…moving our relationship forward."

"Just how forward?" Pop asked folding his arms.

Speed didn't comprehend just what Pops meant at first. "We're dating, going out, more than friends," Speed finally finished.

"It just happened," Trixie said guessing that Speed's parents weren't happy about the living situation now.

"Actually," Speed said taking her hand as he kept smiling. "The truth is...we have been having these...feelings for each other for a long time now. In the hospital we finally admitted them."

Trixie couldn't help but smile back at Speed as she said, "We were just worried about messing up our friendship."

Mom Racer smiled getting lost in the romance of it.

"Well..." Pops said not letting up. "It was more than obvious in the kitchen that you two like being more than friends with each other."

Mom Racer then shot her husband an evil look.

"What's wrong?" Speed asked seeing their expressions. "You both like Trixie."

Breaking into another smile, Mom Racer reached out and squeezed Trixie's shoulder. "I love her," she said meaning it. "We both do, " she added turning to Pops as he nodded in agreement while recalling to himself how they had witnessed the young girl grow up. Looking back at Speed, Mom Racer said, "It's just that we have that rule of never wanting you in the house alone with a girlfriend."

"Mom!" Speed said almost in a panic. "Trixie can't leave! She might not be safe!"

"She's not leaving," Pops said to calm Speed down. "Just listen. We know you two are young adults. We just want you to honor our rules while you're under our roof. Don't forget that Spritle is around watching every single thing that you do."

"Pops," Speed said almost laughing it off. "I'll just tell Spritle that Trixie is my girlfriend now."

"That's fine," Pops said, but raising his voice just a bit, he added, "Holding hands and small things like that is fine but no making out in front of Spritle and laying around all over each other."

"Damn," Speed said pretending to be upset. "I was going to suggest that Trixie come lay in your chair with me."

Totally embarrassed, Trixie looked down thinking that they had just started dating so everyone just had to calm down.

"No! Trixie will not lay in that chair with you!" Pops exclaimed showing who the boss of the house was. "I want Spritle to see you respecting Trixie."

"I do respect Trixie," Speed said getting angry. "You're acting like I'm fourteen years old. Plus, Trixie and I have known each other for years now."

"Let me remind you again that you are under my roof," Pops said in a cautious voice, warning Speed not to make him blow up.

Speed knew he was _stuck_ under Pop's roof, and too scared to be anywhere else.

"Look, Speed," Mom Racer said, and he lifted his eyes to hers. "One day you'll have kids, and then you'll know what we mean." Because Trixie was so quiet, Mom Racer looked at her and smiled. "Pops and I do approve of your new relationship with Speed; very much in fact. It's just that, we have a responsibility as parents to tell you both how we feel."

"I understand," Trixie said sounding like a shy, little girl. "I think it's time for me to go back upstairs." She would have liked to lean down to give Speed a good night kiss but squeezed his hand instead.

After she disappeared up the stairs, Mom and Pops soon followed behind. Walking behind Mom, Pops wrapped his arms around her as they moved up the stairs, and he whispered in her ear, "When we were their age, you were all over me."

"You were the one with the wondering hands that I had to slap away so many times," she said giggling back.

"Start slapping now," he joked as she giggled into their bedroom. Pops then kicked the door closed for some privacy.

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A few nights later, a noise woke Speed up from his sleep while on the sofa. Looking around the dark den, he stayed completely still in fear that if he moved, something bad would happen. Then he could swear that he heard the sound of a door slowly creaking open. Still not moving, he whispered Trixie's name but got no answer. He hoped that maybe it was Mom or Pops so he called their names out but received no answer.

Forcing himself to be brave, he slowly stood up. He then slowly moved over to the closest wall and put his back against it while his breathing became heavy from being so nervous. _Speed, _he thought. _Get a grip. The house is being guarded. _However, he didn't feel better as he remained against the wall since Inspector Detector still hadn't come up with any leads.

The words from the look alike now ran through Speed's head once again, which were, _I will kill you soon._

Looking to his right, Speed realized that the bathroom door was just barely cracked open. Only about a foot away from it he began to sweat, convinced that the look alike was in that bathroom - that it was where the creaking noise from a door opening had come from.

He knew he had to walk past that door to get upstairs or even just to get out of the house. After staying against the wall for what seemed like forever, he told himself about the look alike, _He knows you're there, Speed, so get out of here!_

Hesitantly, he began to move but then tripped over something and fell onto the floor making himself scream out. The scream wasn't as much from any pain he might have caused himself but rather from the fear of the look alike killing him right there while he lay helpless on the floor.

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_I hope Speed didn't hurt himself more. Is the look alike in the bathroom? _


	10. It's in My Mind

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**Chapter 10: It's In My Mind**

Lying on the floor after tripping over something by the bathroom door, Speed looked up to realize that the bathroom door was now fully open. His insides began to ache and it wasn't from the fall he had taken. He remembered the pain the look alike had put him through and feared that there was much more to come. His heart pounded as he tried to brace himself for the pain that would be inflicted upon him. Widening his eyes, he thought he saw something move in the dark bathroom so he screamed, "Leave me alone!"

Within seconds there were hurried footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Speed!" Pops called and then flipped on the lights. Pops then saw his son on the floor looking very scared. "What the hell happened!"

"No! Stay there!" Speed yelled upset. "He's in the bathroom!"

Pops immediately headed towards the bathroom.

"No!" Speed screamed again but this time to Mom and Trixie. However, the two women didn't listen and were at his side in seconds. They began to help him up just as Pops flipped on the lights in the bathroom.

Just after Speed was on his feet, he saw the look alike in the bathroom just staring at him. "Stay away from me!" Speed screamed in a panic.

"Get a hold of yourself!" Pops demanded looking at Speed as if he was crazy. "It's you."

It took a few seconds for Speed to realize that it was indeed his reflection in the mirror. The pajamas should have given that away to him instantly but they hadn't. With his voice a bit shaky, Speed shook his head saying, "I...I...thought I was him."

Mom Racer put her arm around Speed's shoulders and said, "Come sit down, Honey. We have to make sure that you're okay."

"I'm not okay!" Speed expressed as he pulled away from his Mother. "I'm just waiting to be killed! He wants me dead and he's not going to quit till I am!"

Trixie backed away from Speed and moved towards the window to make sure that the house was secure. Sure enough the police car was still parked out front.

Seeing what Trixie was doing, Pops said, "Trixie. The police car is still out there. Right?"

Looking at Pops, Trixie shook her head yes.

Speed realized that Pops wanted him to know that no one could get into the house with the policeman right outside watching. Not saying anything, Speed let Mom Racer help him lay back down on the sofa.

Walking over to the sofa to stand in front of his son, Pops said, "Did you hurt yourself more?"

Speed noticed that his father sounded aggravated as if Speed was crazy to think that the look alike was in the house. "I'm okay," Speed said sounding worried. "But I'm telling you, he won't let me be for long."

"Speed!"Pops said with anger not liking how scared his son was acting. "No son of mine is going to show fear the way that you are right now!"

"Fear!" Speed screamd now becoming angry as he began to sit up against his Mom's will. "Someone literally attempted to beat me to death, and I know he wants to finish the job!" Letting out a nervous, fake laugh, he added, "Fear? I've got news for you, Pops. You see more than fear on my face. I'm terrified!"

The two women were speechless as father and son's screaming began to take over the room.

"You are not terrified!" Pops exclaimed not wanting to hear it. "You're too strong for that!"

"Strong!" Speed said furiously. "Being strong sure didn't help me when he hit me with that truck and then beat the crap out me!"

"He had caught you off guard. At least now you know he's out there," Pops said not wanting to hear anymore.

"That doesn't make it any easier!" Speed screamed back as he stood up. "It makes it worse in fact! I don't want to step a foot out of this house because I'm afraid of the pain he plans to put me through! You think I would have been in that race if I knew what was going to happen to me!"

Just as angry, Pops exclaimed, "You need to toughen up!"

"Toughen up!" Speed questioned clearly disturbed as he looked at Pops like he was crazy. "I swear. Now I truly know why Rex left home."

Not being able to take it anymore, Mom Racer moved between them and screamed, "Stop it! Now!"

Staring in disbelief at his middle child, Pops fell silent. Surprisingly in a calmer tone, he said, "I can't believe you just said that about Rex." He then let his wife lead him away and into the kitchen.

Speed stood there feeling his legs shaking after all of the screaming. Somehow he managed to turn to the window to see Trixie still standing by it - speechless.

"What!" Speed exclaimed upset as some of his anger poured onto her. "Do you think I'm weak too!"

Not moving and in a whisper, she said, "You know I don't."

Speed calmed himself after taking in the sincerity in her voice. It amazed him how much she believed in him. Slowly he began to move towards her regretting what he had said. "You didn't deserve that, Trixie. I'm really sorry," he said and then hugged her.

The sweet girl hugged him back to let him know that she understood why he was so upset.

Closing his eyes, he took in how comfortable he felt in her arms but when he opened his eyes; there just outside the window, the look alike was smiling and pointing a gun at them.

To keep Trixie from getting shot, Speed quickly pulled her down to the floor and moved over her.

Before Trixie could even wonder why she was suddenly on the floor, she felt all of Speed's weight on top of her - feeling his heart pounding since his chest was pressed against hers. Not saying anything, she watched as he ever so slowly lift his head to peek out of the window.

His blue eyes were just about to lift just past the windowsill till he felt a hand on his back. He almost jumped out of his skin till he realized it was only Spritle.

"Speed," Spritle said looking outside. "What are you trying to see out there? I don't see anything."

Quickly turning his head, Speed looked out through the window to see that the look alike wasn't there anymore.

"Speed," Spritle said wiping the sleep from his eyes. "Why are you on top of Trixie like that?"

Looking down at the female who was trapped beneath him, Speed saw that she had started to blush. Stuttering a bit, he said, "Uh...I...fell, Spritle."

"Right on top of Trixie?" Spritle asked as he began to laugh.

Trixie hoped that the young boy wouldn't say anything to Mom and Pops as Speed began to lift himself off of her. He was sure to hold his hand out to help her up next.

After she was up, she noticed Speed holding his side. "Are you okay?" she asked, concerned. Between his earlier fall and what had just happened, she was afraid that he could have really hurt himself.

He never answered her question because he was too busy looking out the window with that worried look on his face.

Trixie found herself looking out as well wondering what he was looking for.

Looking at Spritle, Speed finally said, "Pops is already mad. If he sees you out of bed, he's going to blow another gasket."

Taking the hint, Spritle quickly headed back upstairs.

"Speed," Trixie said again. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"I don't know how, but no," he answered looking through the window once again.

Glad that Speed was healing so well, Trixie knew that something was still very wrong.

"Trixie," he said pulling her away from the window. "I saw him outside pointing a gun at us."

"What?" she asked now knowing why Speed had pulled her down on the floor. "Are you sure?"

"Yes...I think," he said looking outside again to see someone in a blue shirt and white pants running down the street. Speed then closed his eyes, hoping that he was seeing things. When he opened his eyes again, no one was running down the street. "Maybe I didn't see him," Speed said looking towards the police car. He knew that the policeman would have seen the look alike if he had been by the window or running down the street.

"Speed. What is it?" Trixie asked seeing his confused expression.

Bringing his eyes to her face, he said, "I don't know what's real anymore."

Trixie pushed up on her toes and gave him a short, but nice kiss. "That was real," she said seriously.

Smiling at his used to be just-friend, Speed then pulled her into his arms and held her close. While holding her, he started to go over everything that had just happened in his head. He wondered if earlier that night he had woken up on his own and not from a noise. After all, it had been himself in the mirror that scared him. Maybe he had seen his reflection in the window too but that wouldn't explain the gun. He guessed he had just imagined it; like how he imagined the look alike running down the street.

"Speed," Trixie whispered into his ear.

He moved to look at her, leaving his arms around her.

Smiling caringly, she said, "I'll listen if you want to talk."

As if to laugh at himself, Speed smiled while slowly shaking his head as if to rid himself of his ridiculous thoughts. "You might think I'm nuts if I tell you what was going on in my head." Turning very serious, he looked into her eyes and added, "I don't want to scare you off."

"You can't," she said with a smile as she lifted her hand and ran it through his hair. "Speed. You know I'm still your friend too. Right? I mean you can still talk to me. Plus..." she said in a teasing tone. "You have always been so daring that I have been thinking that you are nuts for a long time now."

"Hey," he said really not insulted. "You were with me when I did all of those daring, crazy things."

"Well who insisted I'd be his navigator?" she said pretending to be insulted.

"Well I've ridden in the helicopter enough with you," he said lifting his eyebrows.

"At least in the helicopter I've never jumped out just after telling you to take over."

Speed smiled bigger remembering all the times he had told Trixie to take the wheel of the Mach 5 just before he jumped out because of some crazy adventure they were on. "I didn't think you minded. Plus, you were cute behind the wheel."

"Oh, really," she said smiling again. The last time he had given her a complement on her looks was back in high school when she had just stopped being a Tom Boy.

Now staring at each other they hadn't realized that Pops and Mom had come out of the kitchen.

Pops leaned to his wife keeping his eyes on Speed and Trixie as he said, "I can't believe you had me in the kitchen, telling me how much I was upsetting him. He looks more than fine now."

Mom knew Pops was right but said, "I'm just glad that Trixie can take his mind off the..." She was so tired of worrying about the look alike that she couldn't even say it.

"Oh, Speed's mind is on something else alright," Pops said watching as the two young people began to lean closer for a kiss.

"Stop acting like he only has one thing on his mind," Mom Racer said sounding aggravated with her husband. "He does care for Trixie."

Speed and Trixie's lips were just about to meet till they heard Pops.

"Excuse me," Pops said folding his arms.

Trixie quickly pulled away from Speed and moved a couple of feet away from him. Lately, Pops had a way of making her feel like she was a bad girl who was corrupting his son.

"Spritle is sleeping anyway," Pops only said as if giving up on a lecture. He then moved towards and then up the stairs; still quite upset over the screaming match he and his son had just minutes ago.

The young couple then gave each other a look, remembering that Spritle had caught them on the floor together. They knew Pops wouldn't have considered the position that Spritle had caught them in very nice.

"I should be getting to bed too," Trixie said and then she headed to the stairs.

"Okay, Honey," Mom Racer said nodding her head at Trixie as if she agreed.

Speed's blue eyes followed his girlfriend up the stairs while he imagined her going into his room, and getting into his bed. He smiled at the thought of maybe sneaking up there later to give her a good night kiss.

When Trixie was gone, Mom Racer walked over to her son and asked, "Are you sure that you are okay?"

"Yes," he said glad that the look alike hadn't been in the house. "I'm fine. I guess I caught myself pretty good during both the falls."

"You fell twice?" Mom asked not knowing about what Spritle had seen.

"I meant once," Speed said as he walked to the sofa to lie back down. The last few days he had been overly careful because of not wanting to increase his pain but now after experiencing both falls, he realized that he was doing a lot better than he had thought.

As Mom Racer turned to go upstairs, she saw something partly sticking out from under one of the coffee tables. Bending down and pulling it out, she saw that it was a bat. She tried to remember when Spritle had taken his bat out but couldn't so she just leaned it against the wall for Spritle to put away the next day. She hadn't known that it _wasn't_ Spritle's bat but it had in fact been what Speed had tripped on, making him fall in front of the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later Speed fell asleep on the sofa not knowing that the look alike _had _in fact _been in _the house.

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_What was the look alike going to do with that bat? Will Speed sneak upstairs to give Trixie a good night kiss?_


	11. Sneaking Around

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**Chapter 11: Sneaking Around**

The next morning everyone sat down at the kitchen table dressed for the day as they ate their breakfast without making any conversation at all. Because of Speed and Pop's argument from the night before, there was still some tension lingering in the air, but breaking the silence was a knock at the door.

Pops voluntarily got up to answer the door to get away from the tension in the room, and he didn't announce who it was but rather stepped outside and then closed the door.

Being the first one to speak, Mom Racer said, "Spritle. Don't leave your bat in the den anymore. I've told you about putting your things away over and over."

"My bat?" the young boy asked confused. He then just looked at Chim Chim figuring that he had dragged it out of his room at some point.

Changing the subject, Speed said, "It's been obvious since way early this morning that Pops will probably stay mad." Earlier that morning, Speed had tried to give Trixie a kiss good morning but didn't when he caught Pop's hard stare on them.

"Your Father won't stay mad," Mom Racer said always sounding so positive about things. "I just wish you wouldn't have made it sound like Pops had made Rex want to leave home."

Feeling a bit sorry for what he had said, Speed said, "I was just upset." Then remembering that Pops was the main reason he had gotten so upset, Speed leaned to Trixie and whispered in her ear, "Pops would really flip if he knew Racer X is Rex."

After hearing this, Trixie began to choke on a piece of toast since Rex being Racer X was a major secret that Speed and she had promised to keep.

"I'm sorry," Speed said realizing that he had to be more careful with that important secret. "Are you okay?" he asked gently patting Trixie on her back.

Taking a sip of her juice, she said, "I'm alright." Now it was her turn to change the subject and she did by saying, "I wonder who Pops is talking to outside."

Spritle and Chim Chim didn't care as they got up, ran out of the kitchen and into the den. They began running around as if they were on a playground.

Mom Racer stood up and began to clean off the table as Trixie followed behind helping her.

"Speed," Mom said. "Go tell Spritle to calm down. I'm sure Pops is in no mood for him and Chim Chim to be acting up."

Obeying his Mother, Speed walked into the den to tell Spritle to behave.

The back door suddenly opened and Pops stuck his head in. "Honey. Can you come here for a second?"

Mom Racer shook her head yes and then walked outside. "What's wrong?" she asked after seeing Pop's face. She almost thought that he looked scared.

He wore a look of disbelief as he said, "The policeman wasn't watching the house last night."

"What? What do you mean?" Mom asked confused. "We all saw him outside in the police car."

"The policeman was in it but...dead."

"What!" Mom exclaimed as her hand lifted and covered her mouth.

"He was murdered sometime last night," Pops said looking around as if he suddenly felt like they were being watched. "Let's go inside."

After stepping into the house, Pops peeked into the den to see Speed and Trixie busy trying to calm both Spritle and Chim Chim down. Pops then closed the door between the kitchen and the den so that he could talk to his wife in private. "I feel horrible for acting like Speed was crazy for being scared last night."

"Do they think the look alike is the one who murdered the policeman?" Mom asked with fear in her eyes.

"He's the only suspect," Pops said grimly. "But...something does confuse me. If the look alike murdered the policeman. Why didn't he attempt to come into the house to go after Speed next?"

Suddenly walking into the kitchen, Spritle brought the bat to his Mom and said, "This isn't my bat."

Mom Racer took the bat from her youngest son as he then dashed out of the room. As she looked closer at it, she realized that it really wasn't Spritle's. Almost feeling faint, she started to lean a little till Pops put his arm securely around her to keep her from falling.

"Speed was right," she said looking at her husband as she began to panic. "The look alike was in the house last night! This was his weapon to use on Speed"

"No. You're just jumping to conclusions because you're nervous," Pops said hoping he was right.

With her eyes wide, Mom Racer asked, "How was the policeman murdered?"

Looking at the bat, Pops said slowly, "He was hit in the back of the head with a blunt object."

Mom Racer handed the bat to Pops, not wanting to hold it any longer.

Taking it, Pops said, "You don't think this is what killed the cop. Do you?"

"Whose bat is it then? And how did it get into our house?" she asked very scared.

"But how would _he_ have gotten into the house?" Pops asked so sure that the house was secure.

"I bet there's something unlocked around here," Mom Racer said trying awfully hard to keep her voice down.

"I'll check everything but we must stay calm for Speed. I already told Inspector Detector that I didn't want Speed to know about the murder."

"Good," Mom said glad that Pops seemed much more understanding to why Speed felt the way he did. "I don't want Speed scared to death again right now. Trixie doesn't need to know either."

About twenty minutes later, Mom and Pops were ready to act like nothing was wrong. They walked into the den to see Spritle and Chim Chim watching some crazy cartoon on TV and Speed and Trixie standing by the unlit fireplace talking.

Pops couldn't help but notice that the new, young couple moved a foot or so away from each other when they heard Mom and him come in.

Through out the day, Speed's parents played it cool as they checked all of the windows and doors to make sure that all of the locks were in working order. They found that they all were.

Their acts of securing the house didn't go unnoticed by Speed, and he was glad that Pops seemed to accept that he had every right to be worried.

Late that afternoon, Speed was sitting on the sofa with Trixie. Again they kept space between them so Pops wouldn't preach to them about how they should act in front of Spritle. "I hope Rex is finding some clues," Speed said hopeful.

"If he hasn't yet, he will," Trixie said confidently. "He always does no matter how long it takes."

Speed knew she was right and smiled at her. "You know... I'm glad you're stuck in this house with me."

"Just don't come any closer," she joked. "I don't want Pops to evict me."

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That night when everyone was supposed to be asleep, Speed snuck up the stairs as quietly as he could. The look alike was completely out of his mind for the moment. It was a certain female who seemed to have total control over him, and he liked it.

He tiptoed passed Spritle's room and then his parent's. He cringed at the thought of Pops catching him, but Speed's need to be near this certain female forced him to keep heading to his destination.

Once reaching there, he walked into his room to see Trixie asleep in his bed. He smiled and thought to him self, _I just want a good-night kiss. _Careful not to make a sound, he closed the door to his room. Moving closer to his bed, he began to study Trixie who was lying on her back; her arms in a relaxed position on each side of her. The sheets were down to her waist and the thick robe she had been wearing at night was gone. She was wearing a light colored t-shirt but it was hard to see just what color it was with only the moonlight coming in through the window.

Without waking her up, Speed slowly sat down on the bed as his eyes continued to admire her as she breathed softly. If he had ever been confused about what love was with other girls, he knew now that he wasn't when it came to how he felt for Trixie. He smiled thinking that she was so much better than the rest. To him, she was beautiful even when she was a Tom Boy. Her devotion to doing the right things made her beautiful and how could he not love the devotion she showed him.

Slowly he lifted his hand to touch her shoulder and then he found himself letting one of his fingers begin to slowly move down her slender arm all the way pass her elbow. The feel of her soft skin reminded him all too well of how much they had held hands in the hospital, and now he thought what a shame it was that people didn't make more over just handholding. It was a special thing when you cared for someone and weren't just thinking about making it to first, second or even third base.

Once Speed's finger reached Trixie's hand, he lifted and moved that finger to her other hand and continued its voyage up that arm. When his eyes moved to her face, he was surprised to see that hers were now open and watching him.

The sensation of his finger tracing her arms had brought her out of her sleep. When she had opened her eyes, she just watched as Speed continued what he was doing - causing chills to run up and down her spine. When his eyes had found hers open, he only smiled.

Not many seconds passed when she slowly sat up.

In a whisper, he said very seriously, "I just wanted to kiss you good night."

The moon was glistening in his eyes as she began to stare deep into them. For the first time she wondered if she could trust herself alone with him. That thought tripled when he leaned and kissed her lips. Their few kisses in the past had always made her feel that just one seemed not to be enough, and now this simple good-night kiss was turning into a very passionate one.

In all honesty all he had intended to do was kiss her, but now he wanted to drown in her. Uncontrollably it seemed he moved his hands under the back of her shirt to feel the soft skin on her back.

Feeling his hands on her bare back, she melted even more into his kiss.

Thinking that his shirt was in the way, Speed released her from his arms but still held their kiss as he quickly unbuttoned his PJ shirt and then pulled it off. He then pulled her dangerously close to him with only her t-shirt between them.

His skin felt so good to her beneath her hands that she never wanted to let him go.

Even though their relationship had just changed, they had been mentally close for years. And through this kiss they were letting each other know just how deep their feelings for each other were.

They were breathless when they finally broke apart and then stared into each other eyes while their hearts beat fast; both taken aback at just how strong their passion for each other was.

Trixie reminded herself that she hadn't saved herself to throw it away without thinking long and hard about it first; no matter how much she loved Speed. Plus, though she felt Speed did, she wasn't absolutely, positively sure he loved her since he had never said it.

Speed was grateful to finally realize that there was a difference between making love and just having sex. Now looking at Trixie, he knew he had never wanted someone so much. However, seeing the innocence in her very trusting eyes made it clear to him that he cared too much for her, to rush her. Though he had experience, he'd just have to wait for his first time to _make love _to _her._

Suddenly the light from the hall poured into the room since the bedroom door had been swung open. Speed turned and saw his Mother!

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_I wonder what Mom will do to Speed and Trixie, and if she will tell Pops. I also wonder if the look alike got to see that steamy kiss._


	12. Pop's Brilliant Idea

﻿ 

**Chapter 12: Pop's Brilliant Idea**

Mom Racer had just caught Speed and Trixie after their almost out of control, passionate kiss. At that same moment, someone was putting a key into the back door of the kitchen, and this someone then turned the doorknob to enter. The intruder was the look alike, and he succeeded in getting into the house once again.

The look alike had to smile because it had been too easy since he didn't even have to kill a policeman this time around. The key he used to get into the house belonged to Speed. The look alike had managed to pull it out of the young racer's pocket during the attack. At that time, Speed had been in way too much pain to notice the key being removed from him. And after the beating, no one thought to look for the key because no one realized that it was missing and they were too worried about Speed's health.

Looking around the dark kitchen, the look alike opened a cabinet drawer to look for a knife because he planned on having plenty of fun this night. He almost wished he had a video camera to tape what he was going to do since he would have gladly let the press get a hold of the tape so that his work would be all over TV once again.

Upstairs, Speed and Trixie had just let go of each other as Mom Racer was getting ready to drill them.

Though nervous, Speed was relieved that it wasn't Pops who had caught them. On the other hand, poor Trixie just wanted to die right there because of embarrassment.

Mom Racer was thankful that she had only caught the two young adults staring at each other. Keeping calm, she closed the door so that her husband wouldn't wake and hear what was going on.

"Speed," she said walking over to them with her arms folded, "I went downstairs to check on you and obviously you weren't there. I can't believe you're up here. You know you shouldn't be in here right now!"

"I'm sorry, Mom," Speed said not too convincingly. There was no way he regretted the passion he had just experienced. "It's just that I barely get to kiss Trixie because she's afraid to come near me in front of you and Pops. So...I came up here to give her a kiss good night."

"Just a good night kiss?" Mom Racer asked raising an eyebrow at him. "Where's your shirt?"

Speed looked down at his bare chest, remembering the feeling of Trixie against him and her soft hands on his back. "Uh...my shirt's off…because I was…hot," he said hoping his Mom would think that he took it off earlier downstairs.

"Oh…I know you were hot," she said surprising him because of her bluntness.

Finally embarrassed, Speed became speechless as he looked back at a very reserved Trixie who was hugging herself as she looked down.

"Your Father would have gone nuts if he found you up here," Mom Racer scolded.

"I'm sorry," Trixie said though feeling an apology really wasn't good enough.

"No," Speed said after hearing her uncomfortable voice. He looked at his mother and said, "Mom. Trixie had no idea that I was coming up here."

Mom couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for the young girl since she did look so ashamed of herself. Also, Mom knew that Trixie would never deliberately disobey her and Pops. In a much softer voice, Mrs. Racer said, "Trixie. It's okay. I'm not going to tell Pops."

Trixie lifted her face, still hesitant to have eye contact with either of the people in the room. She was too embarrassed to look at Speed because of how out of control she had become with him, and she couldn't look at Mom Racer because it was her precious son that Trixie had been so out of control with.

Mom knew that Speed had probably made it very hard for Trixie to tell him to get out, so she said, "Trixie, I'm not mad at you. If anything, I'm mad at Speed."

"What!" Speed said totally surprised.

"Speed," his Mom said as a warning, "Put your shirt back on and be quiet."

He could only imagine what was running through his Mother's head as he picked up his shirt.

Watching him buttoning his shirt, she said, "You said Trixie didn't know you were coming up here."

"No. She didn't," Speed said wanting to take the full blame.

"I knew this was all your idea," she said folding her arms. "Trixie. Why don't you go downstairs and get something to drink? I'd like to speak to my son."

"Yes, Mrs. Racer," the young, embarrassed girl said while getting up to exit the room as fast as she could.

"Speed," Mom said turning all of her attention to him after Trixie left. "Did you forget where you were when you decided to sneak up here?"

He smiled not about to admit that the kiss had made him forget all logic. However, losing his smile, he then said, "I won't sneak up here again. I'm sorry. I just...had to see her."

"I'll give you a picture of her then," Mom said sarcastically before sitting down on the bed next to her son. "Speed. I know you're almost twenty but you and Trixie just started this...new relationship the two of you are in."

"I know but we've known each other most of our lives." he said back seriously. Without even realizing it he began to smile as he started to tell his mother just how he felt. "You know how well we have always gotten along. In fact who ever we have each dated in the past always got jealous of our friendship relationship. Sparky even got jealous of us at times because I always let Trixie be my navigator in most of the races. Before I got...uh…hurt, I found myself thinking about her all the time. Then in the hospital, she was bound and determined not to let me give up on myself and now I just can't see myself with anyone else but her."

Touched by his words, Mom Racer felt lucky that her son had trusted her enough to tell her just what he was feeling. Smiling, she thought, _My son is really in love._

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Before Trixie had quickly left Speed's room, she had grabbed her robe. As she headed to the kitchen, she began tying it tightly around her.

After choosing the biggest knife, the look alike closed the drawer he had pulled it from. He was about to leave the room and enter the den when he noticed that the kitchen door was being pushed open. Quickly he hid in the pantry leaving its door opened just a crack.

Once in the kitchen, Trixie flipped the lights on while her emotions had her feeling like she was dreaming. First Speed had her feeling things she never felt before and now she felt like she had really let down Mom Racer.

The look alike glanced at her through the crack of the door wondering why she was awake so late. _This wasn't in my plan, _he thought. She was supposed to be asleep and then he would wake her up so she could see him torture and kill Speed.

Opening a cabinet, Trixie took a glass out and then just stared into it as she mumbled, "I'm so embarrassed that I wish I could just die right now."

The look alike smiled as he tightened his grip on the knife. He knew he could grant her wish very easily.

"Maybe I'll have a snack," she said as she began to walk towards the pantry.

The look alike prepared to use the knife on her, or maybe he could have a little fun with her first and then kill her, he thought. All kinds of sick things were running through his sick mind when Trixie stopped a foot in front of the pantry.

"You're not hungry," Trixie said to herself as she turned and headed back to the cabinet with the glasses.

A disappointed breath escaped the look alike because he had been ready to grab her and cover her mouth before she could scream for help. _She's pissing me off, _he thought. _I'm glad that I brought my gun. _Guns were normally too easy for him. He liked to see suffering but he had brought it in case he needed to get rid of another policeman fast. Upon thinking this, he pulled the gun out of his back pocket and put the knife in its place. Through the crack of the door, he pointed the gun at Trixie while she was putting the glass away. He was just about to pull the trigger when Mom Racer entered the kitchen. _Why aren't any of these people sleeping? _he thought feeling very aggravated.

Seeing how embarrassed Trixie was, Mom Racer gave her a gentle smile. "Trixie," she said in an understanding voice. "Like I said before, I'm not going to tell Pops."

"Thank you and…I'm sorry," the young girl said sincerely.

"Oh please, honey. Pops was not a saint when we were dating. I was forever stopping his hands from moving where they shouldn't."

Laughing lightly, Trixie found her hand covering her mouth.

After laughing lightly herself, Mom admitted, "My parents wouldn't leave us alone in my house either. It's so funny that Pops is now acting like my Father had."

"I just don't want to disappoint you and Pops," Trixie said seriously.

"Trixie," Mom Racer said putting her hand on the young girl's shoulder. "I'm glad that you care what we think. Don't worry though. Pop and I have always sought of…claimed you as the daughter we never had."

Trixie smiled back so touched by Mrs. Racer's words.

Removing her hand from Trixie's shoulder, the sweet woman said, "I probably shouldn't tell you this, but at least with you and Speed, I know you two really care for each other. You'll know when the time is right for anything real physical to happen between the two of you." Mom could only hope that Trixie would consider waiting for her honeymoon night with whomever she would marry.

"It's just that he snuck up there before I could think straight." With a blush, Trixie added, "He made it very hard to think straight too."

Mom Racer remembered how hard it had been to tell Pops _no_ sometimes when they were much younger. Looking annoyed, she said, "Men are such a pain... most of the time."

Trixie and Mom Racer then both laughed. After the laugh, they heard Pops calling them from upstairs.

"Oh no!" Trixie exclaimed worried that Pops had found out about the secret kiss.

"Don't worry, Trixie. I can handle him," Mom said just before the two of them left the kitchen.

The look alike then stepped out of the pantry and whispered, "I can handle all of you with this gun." He then stared at the gun thinking about the conversation Mom Racer and Trixie just had. With a wicked laugh, he said, "Speed must have been caught putting the moves on you, Trixie. I bet I can get into your pants first, especially if you think I'm Speed, which I am."

Once upstairs, the two females walked into Speed's room where both Pops and he were.

"Honey," Pops said walking over to his wife and pulling her to the side. He then whispered, "I woke up worried about Speed because of that cop being murdered. I still don't want him to know about it yet, and I'd feel better if he wasn't alone."

"What do you mean?" his wife whispered back.

"I made a decision based on trust and how badly I feel for that big fight I had with Speed last night."

"What decision did you make?" she asked totally clueless.

"Just listen," Pops said turning to Speed. The young man was watching Trixie, who was across the room from him looking very shy. "Speed. It's obvious that you have been getting around very well. You can make it up the stairs with no problem. I can't believe how fast you are recovering now."

Speed looked back at Pops and said, "That's because of everyone's help." He then turned and looked at Trixie again.

"Yes," Pops said. "I know Trixie has helped you a lot." Pops then paused for a few seconds. "Not that I think anything is going to happen, but for your own safety, I don't want you sleeping downstairs alone anymore. You and Trixie can sleep in this room...together."

"What!" Mom Racer exclaimed looking at Pops like he was nuts. It was beyond obvious that he wasn't the one who had caught Speed shirtless with his arms around Trixie earlier.

Acting like any normal young man, Speed smiled shaking his head yes as he looked at his girlfriend.

Trixie was dumbfounded as she looked at the enticing smile Speed had on his face.

Pops almost had second thoughts after seeing his son's expression. Looking at his wife, he said, "Because of his ribs, Speed will sleep in his bed. Trixie can sleep on that blow up mattress that we have."

Speed wasn't about to argue because he thought that Pops had a brilliant idea.

"I think we should talk some more about this first," Mom Racer said clearly upset.

"What's to talk about?" Pops asked. "You said yourself you trust them." Her husband then pulled her by her arm again and began whispering, "I'm telling you that Speed and Trixie will be safer together."

Mom Racer took in what Pop's said. Surely, Speed's life was worth more than anything that Trixie and he might do together. "Yes," she said very low. "They are young adults. I'll go get the blow up mattress."

Once the mattress was blown up and covered with sheets, Pops and Mom left to go to their room. However, not much later Mom Racer stuck her head back into the room and whispered to Speed, "Keep your shirt on this time."

Speed only smiled before she left to get back to her husband. He then looked at Trixie and said with a smile, "This time it's your turn to take off your shirt."

_Will Speed and Trixie be able to control themselves? Bet their moods would change if they knew the look alike was in the house._


	13. Totally Unexpected

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**Chapter 13: Totally Unexpected**

Trixie was standing by the blown up mattress feeling very modest after hearing Speed tell her that it was her turn to take off her shirt. Feeling embarrassed, she found it hard to believe that his mother catching them together earlier didn't seem to bother him now.

Nervously, she looked down to make sure that her robe was closed, which it was. Looking back at Speed, she saw that he still had that alluring smile on his face.

Keeping the smile, he started to walk over to her. "I'm just kidding," he said though not sounding too believable. "But...I really wouldn't mind if you wanted to take off your shirt." Now close in front of her, he didn't wait for her reply as he began to untie her robe.

"What are you doing?" she asked about to stop him but his blue eyes were just too powerful

"You're not going to sleep in the robe. Are you?" he asked imagining what she had been thinking.

"No. I'm not sleeping in the robe," she said letting him slip the robe off of her shoulders.

Now seeing her again in the thin t-shirt and very short shorts, his mind once again became cloudy with a strong yearning for her.

She too suddenly remembered the desire she had felt for him earlier. Hesitantly, she said, "Maybe I should put the robe back on."

"No," he said thinking to himself that he was going to be a perfect gentleman. "Nothing is going to happen. I shouldn't have said that it was your turn to take off your shirt. Honestly, when I came up here before, I only wanted a kiss."

"Oh…it was a kiss," she said with exaggeration and then they both lightly laughed.

After, Speed said innocently, "I hadn't planned on getting that carried away."

Blushing from just the thought of him taking his shirt off and then pulling her so close to him, Trixie could say nothing.

With a soft seriousness in his voice, he said, "I never want you to feel like I'm pushing you."

Because Trixie had known Speed for such a long time, she knew he was sincere. "Well, I guess you noticed that I was pretty carried away as well."

Did he ever notice! Just from the sudden remembrance of her arms around him, he wanted to pull her onto his bed that very second and continue. However, he told himself to calm down instead since he really cared a great deal for her.

Seeing that he appeared to be in another world, the sweet girl asked, "Are you okay?"

Speed wasn't about to admit to her that he desperately wanted her so he only nodded his head yes that he was fine.

"Well…good then," she said smiling back at him.

Rubbing the back of his head, he admitted, "It's kind of funny when you think about it."

"What's funny?" she asked folding her arms.

"We've been in this room alone many times before without the thought of something...physical happening between us."

"Speak for yourself," she blurted out before thinking.

Floored, Speed exclaimed, "What!" Not once back then had he thought she had thoughts about getting intimate with him.

"I didn't say that," Trixie said wishing she could take it back. "Uh...I should go to sleep now...on MY mattress."

"What's wrong with mine?" Speed asked as he gently pushed her to lay down on his.

Trixie imagined Mom Racer coming through the door as Speed now had her trapped beneath him.

"Don't your ribs hurt or something?" she asked wishing he'd get off as she tried to ignore the part of her that liked him being where he was.

"Actually I do feel so much better. Would you like me to take my shirt off again to show you how well the scar is healing?" he asked making eyes at the female beneath him.

"No," she said trying so hard not to smile.

"Come on. I'll take mine off, you take yours off and so on and so on," he said happily.

Trixie couldn't help but laugh at the humor in his voice.

"Shhh," Speed said not wanting his parents to wake up.

"Oh, now you're worried about what they think?" she whispered back.

Speed then sat up and pulled her to sit up as well. They ended up sitting on the bed looking at each other like they had when Mom Racer had caught them earlier. "No. I'm not really worried about what my parents think," he confessed. Then, very seriously, he said, "I'm only worried about what you think. I don't want to seem like a jerk of a boyfriend that can't wait. It's just fun and so easy to tease you."

"I know you said this already, but when you snuck up here before, you really only wanted a kiss?" she asked watching him closely.

"Yes," he said wanting her to believe him. "I had forgotten how turned on I get just kissing you."

Teasing him back, she said, "Didn't all of your girlfriends turn you on?"

"Not the way you do," he said in a surprisingly serious voice. "You know I hated when they hung on me. I felt like I couldn't breathe sometimes."

Trixie knew it was true. He loved the thrill of getting them to go out with him, but after, he was always trying to get away from them; expressing that they were too clingy. Not once did he seem hurt if one broke up with him because of a lack of his attention.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked now watching Trixie closely. "You're smiling."

"Have you noticed that you always have to be touching me?"

Speed looked down to see his hand on her knee at that moment. It was true. For the first time he was the one in a relationship that was hanging all over the other person. Lately even at the dinner table after everyone finished eating and they were all just talking, Speed would find Trixie's hand. "Is that okay?" he asked, searching her eyes for the answer.

Now Trixie wished she wouldn't have said anything. The last thing she wanted was for him to stop showing affection towards her. "Yes it's okay. Don't stop," she said as she leaned into him and hugged him.

"Good. Because I don't think I can stop," he said hugging her back and she gave him a kiss just behind his ear.

He then in turn kissed her softly behind her ear but he wasn't stopping.

"Okay. I think it's time we get to sleep," she said gently pulling away from him.

Speed watched as she stood up and walked to her mattress. "Do you think Mom would have a heart attack if she just found us snuggled together in the morning?"

"Yes," Trixie said getting comfortable as she lay down.

"Damn," he pouted lying down in his bed.

They lay in their beds looking at each other for about a minute when Speed finally said, "I'll be back. I have to take a cold shower."

"You are so full of it," the young girl said rolling her eyes.

He laughed as he got up and said, "No. I'm really going to get a drink. I'll be back."

"Okay," Trixie said thinking it might be better if she just stayed put. The last thing she needed right now was for Pops to catch them kissing in the kitchen again.

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Not scared or worried at all, Speed walked down the stairs. When passing the bathroom he noticed the light on and only glanced in to see himself in the mirror. After flipping the lights off he thought how he hated that mirror.

Walking past the sofa, he saw a shadow of an object on it. He began to lean to flip the lamp on. As he was leaning, a chilling thought made him realize something about the reflection of himself he had just seen in the bathroom mirror. It wasn't wearing pajamas. It was wearing his blue shirt.

His heart began to pound as his finger flipped the switch of the lamp on. Making him feel even worse was the knife that was stabbed into the sofa. "I'm just imagining this," Speed said closing his eyes as his heart raced.

"No you're not," a voice said coming from behind him. The look alike then grabbed Speed around his neck and held something under his nose.

After breathing in what the look alike pressed under his nose, Speed passed out.

About ten minutes later, Speed was woken up by a shove on his shoulder. His eyes opened and the fear was overly evident in them. He felt like he was in hell as he looked back at his torturer and then he found himself trying to mentally get himself ready for another beating.

The look alike had Speed sitting up on the floor leaning against his bed. His mouth was covered with tape and his legs and arms were tied together by the strong tape as well.

"Ready for a show?" the look alike asked with a tremendous smile on his face as he knelt down in front of Speed. The look alike then looked at Trixie and said, "She's not your typical six foot blonde, model type, but she's a pretty little thing."

This is when Speed forgot about himself totally and now feared for Trixie.

Turning back to Speed, the look alike said, "Originally I was just going to let her watch me kill you. I'm still going to do that, but first...you will watch me have fun with her."

Speed vigorously shook his head _no_.

"Just watch because you might enjoy it," the look alike said leaving Speed and moving towards a very unaware, sleeping Trixie.

Speed tried with all of his might to free himself from the tape but it felt almost impossible. He then began to go into a panic stage at the thought of the look alike touching and hurting Trixie.

She was sleeping on her side facing the opposite direction of Speed's bed when she felt someone lay behind her, and she smiled but knew she had to tell Speed to get back into his bed.

The look alike's chest pressed against her back as his arms went around her.

Watching them, Speed became furious enough to convince himself to stop panicking and to find a way to get the tape off before it was too late.

"Speed," Trixie said smiling with her eyes still closed. "You know you should be in your bed."

Because he didn't say anything, she forced him over just a little as she rolled onto her back. Before she could open her eyes, the look alike was on top of her kissing her.

It killed Speed that she thought it was him.

It only took Trixie a few seconds to know something wasn't right. This kiss wasn't like Speed's others. Everything about it was different. It was too forceful and rough making her start to push him away.

When the look alike lifted his face from hers and looked into her eyes, she felt beside herself. Though he looked like Speed, she had easily come to the dreadful realization that it wasn't. It had to be the look alike. She became very distressed over what he might have done to Speed.

Speed knew she realized it wasn't him and then noticed the knife on the floor just a couple of feet in front of him.

The look alike knew Trixie was about to scream so he grabbed the tape and quickly covered her mouth.

Knowing she had to fight back because he was out to kill for sure, Trixie kneed him.

Speed was relieved for her fast thinking since the look alike seemed to be seeing stars for the moment and Speed saw his chance to scoot closer to the knife.

Trixie sat up a little to try to pull herself from under the look alike but he then struck her very hard in her face making her arms fling out as she fell back on to the mattress unconscious.

Pure anger flashed through Speed's eyes as he tried to move faster towards the knife.

"Knock out in the first round," the look alike said before blowing on the fist that had struck Trixie. He then noticed that Speed had managed to move closer to them. "If you move any closer, I'll break her little neck right now with one snap."

Speed stopped, wishing the look alike hadn't noticed him.

"But now that you are closer, you can get a better view of what I'm going to do to her," the sick man said letting his eyes scan over Trixie.

Speed felt more hatred than he had thought possible.

The look alike smiled after noticing Speed's chest moving up and down from his nervous breathing. "Calm down, Speed. She might just enjoy me."

Eying the knife, Speed knew he couldn't get to it fast enough. He then looked back at the look alike who now had his eyes focused on his hands. They were starting to push Trixie's shirt up. He only had it up a couple of inches when Speed's anger turned into rage.

Feeling a sudden burst of strength, Speed managed to get onto his knees and literally throw himself into the look alike knocking him off of Trixie.

The horrible man had been totally caught off guard since he had his sick mind only on Trixie.

"What was that?" Mom Racer asked after being woken up by a loud thump.

With no answer, Pops jumped out of the bed and headed straight to Speed's room. He tried to open the door but it was locked.

Mom Racer then appeared next to him hearing more noises coming from the room.

Speed was on top of the look alike lifting himself up and then banging himself back against the look alike since his hands and feet were tied.

Suddenly a voice from behind Mom and Pops said, "Move!"

"What the hell are you doing here?" Pops asked seeing Racer X in their hall.

"The look alike is in there," Racer X said slamming himself against Speed's door and forcing it open.

There in Speed's room, Racer X saw the look alike push Speed off of him. Racer X then ran into the room and pulled the horrible man off the floor.

Speed didn't know how Rex always knew when he needed him, but was glad.

The Masked Racer held the look alike by the collar of his shirt, surprised by how much the look alike had managed to make himself look like Speed.

"Racer X," the look alike said with a smile. "Now you can watch me kill Speed."

"You won't touch him," the Masked Racer said just before punching the man.

After running over to Speed, Mom Racer gently pulled the tape off his mouth.

"Mom," he said looking at the knife. "Get that knife and cut this tape off of me."

She couldn't speak as she quickly grabbed the knife and then began to cut the tape off.

Pops got behind the look alike and held his arms back. Thinking of Speed being tied to that tree, Pops said with fury, "Now you can see what it's like not to be able to fight back."

Even though it seemed like a cowardly thing to do, Racer X punched the look alike. The look alike deserved an unfair fight after what he had done to Speed.

"You can't hurt me," the look alike spit out.

Beyond pissed, Pops let go the sick man, made a fist and swung harder than he ever had before right into the look alike's chest. The look alike was knocked off his feet and up against the window. It was very obvious where he was going to be in a few seconds.

Indeed Pops moved in front of the mad man again and punched him clear through the window.

The Masked Racer and Pops then both looked out of the window to see the look alike lying on the ground. A bunch of policeman began to surround him. Earlier, before Racer X had broken into the house, he had told the policeman guarding the house to call for back up.

Once Mom got Speed free, he didn't bother going to the window but quickly crawled over to Trixie.

"Trixie," he whispered but she didn't move. As gently as he could, he began to slowly remove the tape from over her mouth.

Feeling that small bit of pain, Trixie began to come to. She began to blink her eyes open remembering the look alike on top of her forcing himself on her. As she sat up she opened her mouth to scream.

Speed hated that she thought he was the look alike but couldn't blame her. "Trixie. It's really me."

For a few seconds, Trixie looked unsure but then Speed's eyes held the truth. She then threw herself into his arms and hugged him as she began to cry; her body shaking.

"It's over," Speed whispered a couple of times as he rocked her back and forth.

Looking at his family, he heard Pops said, "They're taking him into custody now."

Speed turned back to the precious girl in his arms and held her even tighter as she held on to him for dear life.

Pops, Mom, and Racer X gave each other relieved looks as they then turned their attention onto the couple holding each other.


	14. Time to Relax

﻿

Thanks for the reviews:  
Oriana-I couldn't end it yet. I'm looking so very forward to updates on your stories!  
Lauren Williams-Here's more. I'm so glad you like it!  
Jenny-I'm glad there's enough romance in the story for you.  
Anonymous-I was hoping everyone would like the conversation.  
Dee-Wait till you see what I put in the chapter after this one. It might be funnier than a trial, though that's a good idea.  
Joey's Girl-Thanks for saying it's good.  
Chase M. Dakota-I'm glad you're enjoying it. That makes my day.  
Aikiweezie-That dialogue was fun to write. I'm glad you enjoyed it.  
Stardreamer-You make a great announcer for each of my chapters.  
Gold Angel-I'm so glad that you like the suspense and passion. I was worried that I might be over doing it.  
Stephane-Keep reading. It's not over yet!  
Silly Putty-Thanks for the nice complement! Hopefully next time will let you review.

**Chapter 14: Time to Relax**

"It's over," Speed whispered again to Trixie as he held her close.

His family was overwhelmingly relieved as they watched him console the sweet girl in his arms.

Spritle and Chim Chim were already running around the house like crazy after waking from the loud noise the look alike had made when Pops had punched him through the window. Mom Racer looked towards the door and forced herself not to yell at her youngest son and his pet. She couldn't blame them for being excited over the look alike being arrested while she watched Speed and Trixie still in their embrace. It wasn't long when Mom's hand moved to her son's shoulder to get his attention.

Lifting his face to hers, Speed knew that his mother wanted to take care of the bruise that had appeared on Trixie's face. He slowly released the young girl in his arms and sure enough, around her eye was red and inflamed. Recalling in his head when the look alike had hit her - knocking her unconscious, Speed now fought to control his anger.

Seeing where Speed was staring, Trixie touched her face and her voice trembled as she whispered, "I don't know what happened after he hit me."

Knowing he had to assure her that the look alike hadn't touched her, the young racer said, "I stopped him before he could do anything to you."

Still not knowing just what happened yet, Trixie was glad that Speed had managed to stop the look alike from hurting her. Having more control over her voice, she whispered, "Are _you_ okay?"

"I'm fine," he said knowing he didn't cause any more serious damage to himself, except for maybe some minor bruises. He was more worried about her and quite blown away that she was more worried about him - like usual.

Mom Racer smiled at Trixie while saying, "Come on, Honey. Let's go take care of that eye."

Still a bit shaken, the young girl slowly stood up as Speed stood up with her and wrapped her robe around her.

Mom Racer then put her arm around Trixie and guided her out of the room.

Racer X excused himself so that he could go speak to the police while Pops held Speed back wanting to talk to him.

At first Pops just looked at his son and smiled. He was so relieved that he was okay and that the look alike would soon be behind bars. "Speed," he said calmly. "I'm sorry about the fight we had. I was wrong for telling you to just…toughen up."

"Forget about it," Speed said after seeing just how much Pops loved him by the way he punched the look alike clear through the window. "I know how you feel about me."

"Do you?" Pops asked seriously. The older man then looked down hoping his middle child didn't see the sudden tears he felt in his eyes. After lifting his face back to Speed's, he said, "I should have told Rex this too."

"What?" Speed asked looking worried.

"Speed," Pops said putting his hand on his shoulder. "I love you, son."

Speed slowly smiled then put his hand on Pops's shoulder. "I've always known. I love you too, Pops."

With that said, the two hugged. After, Pops said, "Let's go check on that girl of yours."

Speed liked how Pops referred to Trixie as being his girl. As they were leaving the room, the young racer said, "You must have read my mind."

Once downstairs, Pops was taken outside by Racer X to the police so that they could speak.

Remembering the feeling of Trixie trembling in his arms, Speed headed straight to the kitchen before he could find out all he wanted to know about the look alike.

In the kitchen Mom Racer was holding an ice pack on Trixie's eye as the two stood by the sink.

Speed walked over to them and took the ice pack from his mother. "I'll hold it," he said wanting to take over.

Taking the cue, Mom Racer then left the kitchen.

Tears started to run down Trixie's face once again as she said, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Speed asked softly.

"It's just that I hate him for what he did to you and...and I...I kissed him," she said not out of guilt, but rather out of disgust as she recalled the look alike's arms around her. "I kissed that...animal who tried to kill you," she said now sounding sickened.

"It wasn't for long...and you thought he was me," Speed said in a very understanding voice.

"Right away I knew something wasn't right and when I looked into his eyes, I knew it wasn't you. I became so scared of what he might have done to you, and then…" she said not able to finish her sentence.

"And then what?" Speed whispered feeling she had to get it out as he put the ice pack down and put his hands on her shoulders.

"I just knew he was going to...force himself on me," she said as her body involuntarily shook at the memory of the weight of the look alike on her. He had been much heavier than Speed.

Speed shook his head no. "I was there and would never have let him do that," he said in a strong voice. "I threw myself against him and knocked him off of you."

Trixie gave Speed a very heartfelt, gratifying look and whispered, "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me. There was no way I was going to let him hurt you," Speed said now giving her a gratifying smile. "Don't you see? It's because of you that I saved both of us."

"What do you mean?" the young girl asked not quite understanding.

After taking a deep breath, Speed began. "I'll admit I was scared at first, but then my being scared just…vanished instantly."

"How?"

"Because of you," Speed said pushing her hair behind her ear.

"Me?" Trixie asked somewhat stunned as she looked back into his serious eyes.

Speed's expression though serious already, now showed anger. His voice was even deeper with anger as he said, "I wanted to kill him with my bare hands." His voice then became calmer. "The thought of him hurting you gave me this…_strength_. I was too mad to be scared anymore. I decided right then and there that there was no way I was going to let him hurt you. You mean too much too me."

Speed's words spoke volumes to Trixie of his feelings for her. She couldn't help but wrap her arms around him and hug him tightly.

He hugged her back and couldn't help but think to himself, _I'll never let anyone hurt you. You're mine._

"They're at it again," Pops said entering the kitchen with Mom Racer and Racer X following.

"Put a sock in it," Mom said happy that Speed and Trixie were safe and sound now. She didn't want Pops making them feel badly about hugging each other any longer.

"No, really," Pop's said. "I'm happy that they're at it again."

Both Mom Racer and the Masked Racer looked at Pops - Mom with shock on her face.

"No. You don't understand," Pops said so deliriously happy. "I'm just glad that they are both safe. I didn't mean that I want them to go make my first grand child."

Mom threw her arms up in the air giving up.

Trixie buried her face in Speed's shoulder embarrassed while Speed for the first time smiled at the thought of having a child with someone - further in the future that is.

"Maybe we should change the subject," Racer X said smiling as well.

Speed and Trixie released each other and walked over to Speed's family. Looking at his girlfriend, Speed said, "When I was uh...throwing myself against the look alike to keep him away from you, Racer X burst through my bed room door."

Looking at Racer X, Trixie said, "You knew the look alike was in there?"

Nodding his head, the Masked Racer said, "Yes. I did."

At the same time everyone said, "How?"

"I just came from his house," Racer X said folding his arms.

"What!" Speed exclaimed with everyone else looking just as interested in the answer.

Racer X looked at their questioning faces, knowing he couldn't tell them he was a secret agent so he just said, "It's a shame it took me so long to figure it out."

"Well please tell us how you did it because Inspector Detector never found out anything," Pops said with one eyebrow raised.

"The key word I'm going to use is clue. Inspector detector and his men had no clues to go on and I understand that. I couldn't find any on the look alike either. There was nothing in the woods and no finger prints on the stolen pick up truck either."

"So," Speed asked with a confused look, "how did you end up in his house?"

"After working and concentrating so hard on this for weeks, I don't think you'll believe me when I tell you."

"Try us," Speed said really wanting to know.

"He just looked too much like you," the Masked Racer said still sounding shocked about that. "I finally realized that it couldn't have just been a mask or make up on him."

"Do you think he had some kind of plastic surgery?" Trixie asked catching on.

"Yes," Racer X said nodding his head to the young girl. "Then I thought he'd have to have plenty of money to pay for a surgery that drastic, and one that came out so well."

"Yes. The doctor would have to be really good," Pops agreed. "And one who wouldn't rat on him after seeing him wanted on the news."

"Right," Racer X said. "Also, he must be around other people at some point so I think he must disguise himself not to look like Speed at times."

"It just sounds so unreal," Mom Racer said. "He gets plastic surgery to look like Speed and then he has to disguise himself so he won't?"

"Exactly," the Masked Racer replied. "People would have turned him in a long time ago if not."

Speed needed more answers so he asked, "Why wouldn't the doctor call the police and let them know about the surgery he had done after seeing what the look alike had done to me?"

"That's when it hit me," Racer X said. "The doctor had to be in on this with him."

"Oh no," Trixie said sounding scared. "The doctor's still out there?"

"No," Racer X said. "He's dead."

"What!" echoed from everyone in the kitchen.

"The surgeon was the look alike's father?" the Masked Racer said sending a chill throughout the room.

"Wait. Slow down," Pops said. "How do you know all of this again?"

"Okay," Racer X said knowing that this had to be getting confusing. "Let's go back to when I said it was actually easy to figure it out. I really just guessed."

"You're one hell of a guesser," Pops said not knowing about Racer X's talent as a secret agent.

The Masked Racer continued. "I got the name and addresses of every plastic surgeon in the city and started spying on them more or less."

"Don't tell me you just saw him walking out of one of the houses," Speed said with his eyes wide.

"I don't think I have ever been more shocked in my life, but yes," Racer X said. "At the thirteenth house I looked at, I noticed a bunch of cars, sports cars. Some even had numbers painted on them as if they were racecars. Obviously someone in that house was a fan of racing. I snuck around for a while and then late that night I caught sight of him when he was leaving. Except that he's bigger, he really does look just like you," Racer X said looking at Speed.

Speed felt a chill at the thought of a crazed maniac running around pretending to be him.

Still having everyone's attention, the Masked Racer said, "I broke into the house and found articles on Speed and pictures of him everywhere."

"How did his father die?" Trixie asked as she also wondered when he had died.

"Funny you should ask that now," Racer X said. "I walked into their den, and there he was on the floor with a knife in his back."

"The look alike killed him?" Mom Racer asked covering her mouth.

"That's what I figured as I pulled the wallet from the body," Racer X said. "After I found the identity and realized it was his father, I then had a gut feeling that Speed was in immediate danger. Like the father was trying to stop the look alike, but obviously didn't."

"That's how you knew he was here," Speed said shaking his head like he still couldn't believe it. "Why did he want to kill me?"

"I don't know yet," Racer X said. "But I'm sure we'll find out soon enough."

Pops let out a relieved breath that it was over and said, "That horrible excuse for a human being does look like Speed."

"Not his eyes," Trixie said calmly as she stared out into space remembering when the look alike looked into hers. She then lifted her face and looked into Speed's blue eyes. "The look alike's eyes are blue, but not as blue as Speed's. And...there was evil in them."

There was silence in the kitchen as Speed stared back at the girl who meant everything to him.

Breaking in, Pops said, "The cops took him away already. Let's go to bed so we can get up tomorrow morning and talk about racing again!"

Speed began to feel sick to his stomach. The last thing he wanted to discuss was racing. Wasn't that what had gotten him into this mess in the first place?

Suddenly breaking into Speed's thoughts was Spritle screaming to Chim Chim to copy him as he tried to jump over the sofa.

"Damn it!" Pops exclaimed. "I'll get the monkey, you get...

"I know, I know," Mom said as they both began to leave the kitchen, "I'll get Spritle."

Racer X then turned to Speed and Trixie and smiled.

"Thank you, Rex," Speed said wishing there was a stronger way to thank his brother.

"Your welcome little brother," Rex whispered so glad that he could say that now.

Speed too was glad that the Masked Racer could claim him as his brother.

Trixie smiled at the two and then Racer X left.

Speed then took Trixie's hand and pulled her into the now deserted den.

"I'm sure Spritle and Chim Chim did not want to go back to bed," Speed said as he sat down on the sofa pulling Trixie to sit down next to him."

Trixie knew Pops and Mom were going to separate them, but she wasn't ready to be by herself yet. She couldn't help but still feel scared. She shuddered at the thought of the look alike's arms around her.

After feeling her shake, Speed kissed her softly and soon felt her calm down. "Are you okay?" he whispered.

In a low voice, she replied, "I don't mean to sound like a wimp but I just don't want to be alone right now."

Speed didn't say anything, but pulled her close to him making her put her head on his shoulder.

Pops walked downstairs and was about to tell them to go to bed but decided to leave the two alone.


	15. Trying to Forget the Fear

﻿

Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter:  
Oriana-Thanks so much. Keep updating your stories going!  
Stephane-Thanks for the nice e-mail. They're always encouraging.  
Gold Angel-Thank you for your nice words. I can't wait till you are ready to post your SR story. Without a doubt, I know it will be great.  
Dee-We'll have to see if Speed will race again in the chapter after this one. Sorry for the wait.  
Lauren Williams-I'm happy that you are so happy when I update.  
Jenny-I'm a sucker for romance.  
Joey's Girl-You're probably right about that danger thing.  
Anonymous-You'll get some more information in this chapter.  
Aeroshockwave-Read and find out more. Update your story!  
Stardreamer-You are a kick! Things will be heating up, but more so in the chapter after this one.

**Chapter 15: Trying to Forget the Fear**

Everyone was upstairs except for Speed and Trixie who were still sitting on the sofa. Pops had decided they needed some time alone together to try to get over the horrible ordeal they had been through. The two were each in their own worlds as they sat next to each other in deep thought.

Speed stared at the split the knife had made in the sofa and scared wasn't a strong enough word to describe how he had felt when he saw the knife sticking out of it right before the look alike had snuck up behind him and made him pass out. Now Speed was so relieved that it was over, and that he didn't have to worry about the look alike hurting him or anyone else anymore. A peace came over him knowing that he could begin living once again like a normal person.

Trixie's head was on his shoulder as she thought differently than Speed. She didn't yet feel peaceful. The memory of the look alike's rough kiss and even the smell of him was hard to forget. What he had planned to do to her still scared the life out of her. The last thing she expected was the look alike sneaking into Speed's room to attempt to assault her. As if needing to be assured that she was safe now, she tightened her grip on Speed's hand.

He squeezed it back and then let his thumb begin to brush back and forth over her smaller hand so thankful that she hadn't been hurt.

Unfortunately the darkness of the night still had Trixie very nervous. She now knew just how Speed had felt when he thought the look alike was around every corner waiting to hurt him. In hopes of feeling better in the morning, she closed her eyes to try to force herself into sleep. It took awhile but eventually she did fall asleep.

Speed was still awake as he slipped his hand under his PJ shirt. Touching his scar, he knew he had been blessed to survive the beating he had received from the look alike. In fact, he had been blessed in two extra ways since that horrible day. First he had been blessed to find out that Rex had been around as Racer X. Second he had been blessed to find out that Trixie had returned his feelings. For so long he had imagined her being more than friends to him and now that she was more, it was even better than what he had imagined. A smile crossed his face as he felt her head getting heavier on his shoulder.

Trixie was getting deeper and deeper into sleep as a dream of hers started to develop.

Laying his head on Trixie's, Speed was just about to drift off himself when her nightmare stopped him.

"You're not Speed," she said clearly distressed. "Don't touch me!"

Speed lifted his head and then took her face into both of his hands. "Trixie, wake up. You're dreaming."

She opened her eyes looking scared till she recognized Speed's eyes, and then she hugged him not saying a word.

"You're trembling," he said holding her close; not wanting her to be scared.

"Please. Just hold me," she said only wanting to think of her boyfriend now. With all of her might she pushed the look alike out of her mind.

Speed tightened his arms around her and whispered into her ear, "I'll hold you all night."

With that, she closed her eyes feeling safe and protected in his arms.

llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

"Speedy," Spritle whispered patting his older brother on the arm.

Speed felt too content to move, to speak, or to even open his eyes as he lay on his back on the sofa. He felt nothing but Trixie's warm body cuddled very close to his side, with her arm around him. Her face was so close to his that he could hear her breathing. Smiling, he decided he could stay with her like this forever.

"Speedy," Spritle whispered again in an attempt to wake him up.

Speed opened his eyes wide, blinking back the brightness of the sun that was coming in through the windows in the den. He remembered lying back on the sofa with Trixie in his arms the night before. After she was asleep, he had intended on moving to the recliner but found that he couldn't pull himself away from her. Now he didn't know what to say as he looked back at his little brother and Chim Chim.

"Speed," Spritle whispered yet again. "What are you and Trixie doing?"

Noticing the quietness in the house, Speed was thankful that his parents were apparently still asleep. He knew they had to be exhausted from the experience of the long night before.

Upon folding his arms, Spritle whispered, "I'm waiting for you to tell me what you and Trixie are doing, Speed." Chim Chim began to jump up and down as if demanding an answer as well.

Finally Speed came up with an explanation and whispered, "Trixie had a nightmare. Don't you sometimes get into Mom and Pops's bed after you have a nightmare?"

"Yeah," Spritle said now embarrassed of that.

"Well…Trixie was scared so she...came by me."

"She doesn't look scared anymore," Spritle said. Almost sounding jealous of the attention his brother was giving Trixie, he added. "Does she think you're a big stuffed animal or something?"

Speed could only imagine what they looked like to Spritle. Pops would kill him if he knew that Spritle found them this way. "Trixie," Speed whispered, but she didn't move so he whispered her name again.

Trixie smiled not opening her eyes as she snuggled closer to Speed. She had been so determined to only think about him the night before that she dreamt nothing but sweet dreams of him.

Spritle watched as she nuzzled her face into Speed's neck. Spritle then began to giggle, not irritated anymore as he said, "She really does think you're a big teddy bear."

Because of Spritle's giggling, Trixie opened her eyes and quickly lifted her head. Looking down, she saw Speed smiling at her. She then began to sit up afraid of what Mom Racer and Pops would do to them if they were found this way.

Speed too sat up knowing just what she was thinking because Pops had clearly forgotten about the two of them being alone downstairs on the sofa.

llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

Not much later, everyone was up and dressed. There was such relief in the house now - everything not as locked up like it was a prison.

After lunch, Speed and Trixie walked outside to enjoy the outside air.

"Are you feeling better?" Speed asked as he pulled Trixie to sit down next to him on the swing.

"Yes," she said nonchalantly. "I just kind of…freaked out last night."

"I can understand why," he said trying to imagine how she felt when she realized that the look alike was the one on the mattress with her.

"I just want to forget what happened," she said putting on a brave smile before turning her face away.

"It's okay. I know how you feel," Speed said after seeing her forced smile. After putting his hand on her chin, he turned her face back to his and said, "There are things I want to forget too."

She knew he meant the first encounter he had with the look alike. Seeing Speed just after he had arrived at the hospital that horrible day had been the worst day of her life, especially not knowing if he was going to make it.

Seeing that she was in deep thought, Speed decided to interrupt by placing his lips on hers for a soft kiss. After the kiss, he moved his face just an inch or two away from hers and whispered, "Everything is different now, Trix. No more worrying."

She wondered if he knew the power his touch and eyes had over her. "No more worrying," she whispered back as she tilted her head for a deeper kiss.

Speed leaned to her and their lips were just about to touch till Pops yelled, "Speed! Trixie! Come see this!"

Their eyes opened wide as they let out deep breaths. "Damn it," Speed whispered making her smile back.

"I second that," she said trying to shake the feeling of wanting to kiss him. "I guess we should go see what Pops wants."

"Yeah," Speed said as they both stood up. "We'll never hear the end of it if we don't," he said putting his arm around Trixie's shoulders.

Her arm went around his waist as they headed back to the house to see what Pops was going to gripe about now.

"Hurry up!" Pops yelled out the door.

"I think I really need to get my own place," Speed mumbled as they walked into the house.

"I can't believe it," Mom Racer said in surprise.

"What?" Speed asked after hearing Mom Racer's worried voice.

"Look at the TV," she said not taking her eyes off of it.

Speed and Trixie both looked to see the look alike.

"What the hell!" Speed exclaimed taking his arm from around Trixie as he moved closer to the TV. Trixie then walked over to Mom Racer.

The look alike was a guest on a talk show.

With anger, Speed said, "Do you think someone could have told us about this!"

Suddenly the host from the show appeared on the TV screen. "If you have just tuned in, we will be interviewing who we have all come to know as, the look alike, live from prison," the host said as if taking credit for the arrest. "If you have been watching the news, you know who the look alike thinks he is." Turning to the screen that showed the look alike in prison, the host said, "Can you hear me?"

The look alike didn't answer at first but then he said, "My name is Speed Racer."

Speed watched him closely still finding it hard to believe how much the look alike did look like him.

"Okay," the host said. "Could you tell us why you think you are Speed Racer?"

"I don't think it. I know it," the look alike said calmly.

Pops folded his arms as he said, "At least he doesn't sound like you, son."

"Shhh," Speed only let out as he continued to stare at the screen.

The look alike began to speak, "I tried to tell my father that I knew I was Speed Racer but he wouldn't listen."

"Didn't your father make you look like Speed Racer?" the host asked.

The look alike was quiet for a few seconds before he said, "He helped me to look this way, and once all of the operations were finished, I knew I was meant to be who I am...Speed Racer."

The host made a face, which expressed that he knew the look alike was insane. "Then who was the young man you tied to the tree and beat?"

"He's trying to be me," the look alike said still unruffled.

"Aren't you trying to be him?" the host asked.

"I grew up wanting to be a racer," the look alike said now getting upset. "My father knew that as well!"

"Your father had money. Why didn't you just become a racecar driver yourself?"

"Because," the look alike said calming down. "I wanted to be the best."

"The best meaning...Speed Racer?" the host asked.

"I told my father I would kill myself if he didn't help me to look like Speed."

"But you said you are Speed," the host said.

"I AM!" the look alike exclaimed coming unglued. "His life is mine. I want the car. I want the glory of winning. I even want his girlfriend."

Chills ran down Trixie's spine, while Speed wanted to put his foot through the TV.

"So," the reporter said like the look alike was nuts. "Let me get this straight. Your father helped you to become Speed Racer in fear that you might kill yourself if he didn't, and now you think you are Speed Racer?"

"I don't think it! I know it!" The look alike roared back. Then after calming himself down yet again, he said, "Being Speed made my father proud because he was obsessed with Speed Racer and his career."

"But you killed your father," the host said flabbergasted.

In a much calmer voice, the look alike said, "I had to do that. I didn't want to really. It's just that he was ready to go to the police. I wasn't going to go to jail for defending who I am."

"Well, well, well...look where you are now," the host said happily.

"Mark my words," the look alike said leaning closer to the camera. "I WILL GET OUT OF HERE!"

It was as if the look alike was really looking at Speed as Speed stared back at the screen.

Suddenly a policeman announced that the interview was over and then he started to pull the look alike away.

"Oh well," the host said, "I was just about to ask him who Speed Racer's girlfriend is. The only girl I've seen him with just before all of this happened was his navigator and spotter, Trixie. I wonder if he met a pretty nurse while he was in the hospital."

"Turn it off," Speed said aggravated.

"He's insane," Trixie said not needing any more proof.

Pops nodded his head agreeing and said, "He was upset at the attention his father gave Speed I guess."

"Yes," Mom Racer said. "He was obsessed with Speed's career."

"Well," Speed said furiously. "I don't have to worry about that happening again because I won't be racing anymore!"

"What!" Pops said blowing his top.


	16. Making New Memories

﻿

Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter:  
Oriana-That was funny about the name changing thing.  
Gold Angel-I'm so glad you like my story but I have to repeat myself and tell you how much I enjoyed your new romantic SR story!  
Brenda B.-Hey, a late review is better then never. Thanks for the very nice complement.  
Lauren Williams-I couldn't have said it better myself!  
Dee-The answers to your questions should be in this chapter.  
Stardreamer-There will be more than one finished kiss in this chapter! I liked your review.  
Jenny-I'm glad you like what I'm doing with Speed and Trixie.  
Stephane-I hope you get some answers in this chapter.  
Aeroshockwave-Maybe Pops can take Speed's place. That would be funny.  
Anonymous-You're right. You should be worried!

**Chapter 16: Making New Memories**

After Speed dropped the bomb, Pops yelled, "What do you mean you're not racing anymore!"

Though his father was throwing a tantrum, Speed fought to stay calm as he said, "Just what I said."

"Wait a minute. Just wait a minute," the older man said forcing himself to calm down as he moved closer to Speed. After taking a deep breath Pops said as calmly as possible, "Do you mean to tell me that you are going to let the look alike stop you from being a professional racer?"

Going around the question, Speed said, "I decided while I was in the hospital that I had enough of always trying to stop the bad guy."

"Then just race," Pops said for the solution. "Tell Inspector Detector that you can't help him with anymore of his cases."

"It's not just that," Speed said walking to the backdoor. "I have no...desire to race anymore." He then opened the door and walked outside leaving Pops broken hearted.

Turning his sad eyes to his wife's, Pops said, "I know I can't force him to continue racing, but I can't believe that he really wants to quit. He's just too...talented to just quit like that."

"Honey," Mom Racer said seeing her husband's disappointment. "Give him some time. He's been through a lot."

Pops wasn't satisfied with that answer so he turned to Trixie. "Trixie, please go talk to him. You know as well as I do what racing really means to him."

The young girl shrugged her shoulders as if not knowing what she could say to Speed to change his mind.

Almost pleading with her, Pops said, "He'll listen to you better than he'll listen to me."

"Okay…I'll try," Trixie said in a soft voice. "But I can't promise anything."

Thankful, Pops nodded his head that he understood as Trixie then headed to the backyard.

Once in the backyard, she looked around not seeing Speed anywhere. Taking a chance, she walked over to the closed garage. Opening the side door to it, she looked in and sure enough saw the man she was head over heels for leaning down in front of the Mach 5.

After stepping in, she softly closed the door and asked, "What happened?"

Speed quit trying to clean up the broken glass and said as he stood up, "I accidentally knocked a glass off the table."

Looking at the table, which was against the wall, Trixie knew that Spritle had probably left the glass on it. "I'll clean it up," she said walking over to it.

"No. Wait," Speed said staring at it. "Just looking at it I realize that it's...shattered, like my racing career."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Trixie said leaning over it. "I'd say it's…_almost_ shattered. Almost doesn't count. There's still a big part left." To emphasize, she held up the part of the glass that hadn't broken to bits and pieces.

Speed turned away from her knowing what she was trying to say but he didn't want to hear it.

Standing up, Trixie walked over to him as he stared blankly at the Mach 5.

In a very low voice, he soon asked, "Your feelings won't change for me if I stop racing. Will they?"

"Of course not," Trixie answered honestly. "But I just don't think you really want to quit."

Looking at the girl that he had such strong feelings for, Speed hoped that she wasn't going to lecture him like Pops always seemed to do.

"Don't you miss driving her?" Trixie asked of the Mach 5.

"Not when it reminds me of having the life beat out of me," Speed said feeling he was making a valid point.

In a gentle voice, Trixie said, "Well…you know that it wasn't the Mach 5 that hurt you."

"Oh great," Speed said becoming upset. "Now even _you_ think I have no right to decide if I should continue to race or not."

"No. That's not it," she said watching him walk away from her and then lean against the wall and stare down at the ground. "Speed," she said not moving from her spot by the Mach five. "This car is part of you. No one can handle her the way you do."

Shaking his head in disgust, Speed then looked at his girlfriend and said, "I really didn't expect to defend how I feel with _you_."

Hating the disappointment she heard in his voice, she said, "I don't want to pressure you to do anything you don't _really _want to do. It's just that..."

"Good. Then let's drop it," Speed said interrupting her.

"Speed," Trixie said not quite ready to give up. "You live for that sensation of going fast."

"Yeah," he said as he pushed off the wall. "I really need that sensation," he said sarcastically as he walked to the side door to leave.

Watching as he put his hand on the doorknob, Trixie said, "Speed...wait."

Speed opened the door and was about to leave as he said, "I don't want to talk about it anymore."

Raising her voice a bit, she said, "I know you don't want to race anymore because the memory of the beating enters your mind every time you even think of racing. But Speed, you must push that memory out of your mind and make new ones!"

"It's not that easy!" he exclaimed very upset over the fact that his ambition to race was gone.

In a strong voice, Trixie exclaimed determined, "Don't associate what he did to you with racing. You love racing!"

Slamming the door shut, Speed then turned to Trixie with such anger on his face. He was sick and tired of everyone assuming that racing was the most important thing in his life, and her mention of love had triggered an emotion he had been holding back. "Do you know what I love!" he screamed at her.

"What!" she yelled back just as loud.

His voice still loud, he yelled," I love you!"

Watching as he started to move towards her, her voice sounded with anger as she said, "Did you just say that you love me!"

"Yes, damn it!" he exclaimed loudly now right in front of her.

"Yeah! Well I love you too…damn it!" she exclaimed just as loudly as she stared back into his eyes.

"Good!" he yelled and then grabbed her into his arms and started kissing her. Even though it seemed a bit abrupt at first, Speed's lips were as inviting as ever making Trixie once again melt into his arms. It was a kiss stronger than the ones they had shared before, especially since now without a doubt they actually knew how the other felt. After the kiss and right before another, Speed said in a husky but loving voice, "I really love you."

Sounding more honest than ever, the sweet girl in his arms added, "I've been in love with you, Speed."

She was the first woman he didn't mind hearing those words from because normally he'd panic and run. In fact, he had been needing and hoping to hear _her_ say those words, and not just in a dream. Smiling, he said, "Let's start making those new memories you spoke of."

"What?" she asked still in a bit of a daze from their kisses.

Letting go of her, he then jumped into the Mach Five on the passenger side. "Come here," he said smiling as his hand came out of the car and grabbed one of hers.

She knew she'd like this particular new memory that he wanted to make in the fast car so she opened the door and then sat on his lap. After he pulled the door shut, they immediately started to kiss some more, having no problem at all getting totally lost in each other once again. Many, many minutes later, between feeling his breath in her ear and his kisses on her neck, Trixie didn't even realize that she whispered his name.

Speed however heard, and lifted his face to see hers.

Slowly, Trixie opened her eyes since his kisses had stopped, and he saw a look he had never seen in her eyes before, and he knew that look was for him and for him alone. She was his, and he hers.

Ten minutes later after their show of affection ended, Speed and Trixie walked out through the side garage door hand in hand.

Pops was sitting on the swing as if waiting for them to come out.

"Trixie," Pops said standing up with nervous excitement in his voice. "Did you talk to him?"

Although she had started trying to convince Speed to continue racing, that had been quickly forgotten after he had said he loved her so Trixie didn't know what to tell Pops.

Speed knew what Pops meant and decided to save Trixie. "Yes, Pops. She did speak to me about racing."

"And?" Pops asked hoping for the right answer.

"I'm feeling a little better about it now, though I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do yet."

"Okay. Fair enough," the older man said glad that Speed was at least feeling better about racing.

"Besides," Speed said looking at Trixie, "there are other things I want to do right now."

"Like what, Son?" Pops asked happily as Spritle and Chim Chim came out the house.

"Like taking Trixie out on a date," Speed said smiling at her.

"A date?" Spritle asked walking up to Speed and Trixie. "Isn't that when boys take out girls that they like so that they can kiss?"

Pops ignored Spritle being that he was thinking that Speed would need a car. "I'll tell you what," Pops said with enthusiasm. "You two should go out in style in the Mach Five."

"Why not," Speed said thinking he and Trixie could create some more new memories there.

Spritle and Chim Chim began to make circles around the young couple as Spritle sang, "Speedy and Trixie sitting in a tree, K I S S I N G..."

"Alright. That's enough," Speed said with a grin as he called to mind the serious kissing he and Trixie had in fact just done some minutes before.

Spritle stopped next to the sweet female and started to stare up at her.

Seeing his hard stare, she asked him, "Why are you staring at me like that, Spritle?"

Tilting his head to the side, he asked, "What is that on your neck?"

Speed looked at her neck and his eyes widened before he said, "A mosquito bit her."

Trixie became embarrassed when she realizing that Speed must have left a mark on her neck.

Spritle began to walk away telling Chim Chim, "Let's go inside. There's some big mosquitoes outside right now."

Pops didn't comment but said to his son and his girl, "You kids have fun." He wanted Speed behind the wheel of the Mach Five as soon as possible.

"Sure, Pops," Speed said just before pulling Trixie back into the garage.

Once in it, she said, "Speed. How big is the...mosquitoe bite?"

Letting out a small laugh, he pulled her into his arms and brushed a kiss over the hickey. "Sorry, Trixie," he said pressing his forehead against hers. "I just couldn't get enough of you."

"It's getting hot in here again," she joked pulling away from him. "Let's go."

He laughed as he then opened the big garage door.

After jumping into the Mach Five, Speed stared at everything in it. It had been such a long time since his hands had been on the wheel or the gears. It was like saying hello to an old friend. He wished however, that the old friend would have in some way convinced him not to get out of it that horrific day that the look alike had hurt him. The Mach Five had so many special features but during the beating the car had been useless. "Speed. You were the operator," he said out loud to himself.

"What?" Trixie asked bringing him out of space.

Turning his head, he looked at the girl in the passenger seat and many memories came back to him. So many times he had looked at her before in that very same spot but now they didn't have to hide how they really felt for each other. He smiled back at her as he began to untie the red scarf from around his neck. "I think you need this."

She then looked into the rear view mirror at her neck. Because her skin was so sensitive, she knew the hickey would be very noticeable to everyone. "Catch backs," she said turning back to Speed who was now very close as he leaned over to tie the scarf around her neck.

"Catch backs?" he asked as he concentrated on tying the scarf.

"Yes," she said with a devious smile. "My turn on you next time."

He could only grin as he said, "I can't wait."

Trixie then forced herself to gently push him away as she said, "Let's go on our first official date."

"Okay, okay," he said pushing back behind the wheel.

Smiling, Trixie fastened her seatbelt just as he did.

After a few seconds lost in deep thought, Speed then started the powerful engine of the Mach Five.

Pops was outside on the side of the garage very glad to hear the sound; especially since Speed pushed the engine to sound as if it was about to start a race.

The young racer had to admit to himself that he had missed the sound and the feeling to have power over such a machine. He wondered how he had convinced himself that he could live without ever racing again? Trixie was right. He did love the sensation of going fast. Turning to his sweet girl who was already smiling, he asked with excitement, "Are you ready!"

"You bet!" she exclaimed excited as well.

Speed focused his eyes back on the driveway and then took off

Throwing his fist in the air, Pops shouted, "Yes!"

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Ten minutes later on the highway, Speed realized the time away from driving had done nothing to his natural born talent. Everything came so naturally to him when it came to driving the Mach Five.

Once to their destination, he said, "I hope you don't mind us coming here? I know it's not…romantic but I'd like to avoid the press if possible."

"It doesn't matter where we go," Trixie said as they remained sitting in the Mach Five.

"Well at least we know the food is good," he said looking at the hole in the wall place they had been to many of times.

Smiling, Trixie said, "Are you ready to enter the real world again?" It was the first time Speed would be eating in a restaurant since before the look alike had appeared into their lives.

"Let's go," he said with a smile and then they both exited the car, and Trixie loved how he took her hand as they began to walk to the restaurant. People would probably be surprised to see that they were now an item.

Once in the place, Speed picked a booth in the corner and they sat together on one side. After placing their orders, he winked at Trixie as he put his arm around her and said, "Nice scarf."

"You'll need it back soon," she said winking back.

Speed loved it. Here was his old friend now being very flirtatious with him.

They made nice conversation and enjoyed just appetizers since they had eaten lunch not long ago, and luckily no one bothered them at all. The place had been pretty empty since lunchtime had been over, and it wasn't near dinner time yet.

Later when they were headed back to the Mach Five, an old girlfriend of Speed's, Victoria, showed up.

"Speed Racer!" she said walking from her car and over to them. "I can't believe that you never called me once since you've gotten home. I thought we were close," the pretty dark haired girl said as her brown eyes flashed with jealousy. The girl then took notice of Speed and Trixie's hands linked together and said, "I also thought you two were just friends!"

Speed and Trixie just looked at each other as Victoria stood there with her arms folded waiting for an answer.


	17. Real and Forever

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**Chapter 17: Real and Forever**

One of Speed's old girlfriends, Victoria, didn't budge as she stood still with her arms folded after demanding an answer from him about whether he and Trixie were just friends or not.

Images of all the girls Speed had dated before began to run through Trixie's mind making her roll her eyes.

Her eyes rolling hadn't gone unnoticed by Speed so he tightened his grip on her hand as if to assure her that what they had was indeed very real. Trying to keep his cool, he looked back at Victoria and said, "Uh...Vicky?"

"It's Victoria," she said looking more mad than hurt.

"Didn't we break up sometime...uh…last year?" he asked remembering how glad he was when that relationship was over. All she had done was demand to know how much money he had made from each race and then talk about marriage, which had totally freaked him out - especially since they hadn't been serious.

Calming down a bit, she said, "I sent you flowers while you were in the hospital, along with a card that said I wanted you to call me when you got out."

Speed was quiet as he recalled that card, but he had been just about as interested in calling her as getting caught in the middle of a very dangerous hurricane.

"Oh…I get it," Victoria said highly aggravated with Speed's silence. Turning her eyes only on Trixie, she said, "I guess you and Trixie aren't just friends anymore after all. She must be your flavor of the month this time."

"What!" Speed exclaimed not liking her speaking of Trixie that way at all. Defending his girlfriend, he let go of her hand and put his arm around her shoulders and said, "Trixie is very important to me."

Victoria's face began to express sympathy as she said to Trixie, "Let me let you in on something, Dear. I've spoken to a few of Speed's ex-girlfriends and they too know that he's in love with his car. Don't hold your breath waiting for him to tell you that he loves you."

Trixie turned away knowing Victoria hadn't a clue that Speed had confessed his love for her that very day. As Trixie's green eyes met Speed's, she had to smile while remembering how they had yelled it at each other.

"And you know what else?" Victoria said in a very mean voice. "I think that...white car he drives is...stupid."

Looking at Trixie, Speed now rolled his eyes and whispered, "Why are we listening to this?" Victoria was acting like Speed and she had been so close at one time, but they hadn't. Also he knew that anyone who thought the Mach Five was a stupid car was beyond crazy.

Now furious at Speed for not seeming to be affected by her words, Victoria said in pure anger, "Trixie. You'd be better off if the look alike had killed Speed!"

Before Speed could react, he saw Trixie's eyes fill with rage, showing that she was mad enough for the both of them.

Enraged, Trixie pulled out from under Speed's arm and her face quickly spun to Victoria's. In the past as an adult, Trixie had only fought to protect herself or someone on the Go-Team, but as of right now, she had never wanted to deck someone as much as she wanted to deck Victoria.

Speed was about to grab her to keep her from attacking Victoria but couldn't help but just watch as she pointed her finger at Victoria's face.

"Let me tell _you_ something!" Trixie said fuming. "How dare you say that! How dare you!"

Victoria backed up as she saw the growing fury in Trixie's eyes, afraid that Trixie was going to let her have it.

The upset female took a step closer to Victoria and exclaimed, "I never thought that you or those other girls you spoke of ever deserved Speed! His character is far too good for the company of your type. And as for the look alike, that animal did almost kill Speed! You didn't come to the hospital to see him hanging on by a thread fighting for his life! Did You!" Trixie then dropped her finger and with great sadness, she recalled that day when she was crying in the hospital outside the emergency room doors. Now with grief in her voice, she said, "I didn't want to live without Speed."

Wanting to get away from Trixie as soon as possible, Victoria slowly backed away and then ran off.

Speed then pulled a very disturbed Trixie into his arms. "Shhh…It's okay," he said trying to calm her down. "You know I'm okay now."

"Don't ever leave me, Speed," she said hugging him tightly as thoughts of if he hadn't made it ran through her mind.

"Hey," he whispered backing up a bit to look into her eyes. "Know right now that I'll never leave you." He then hugged her tightly again.

"Alright! We got it!" a young man suddenly screamed.

Speed lifted his head to see that a camera had caught everything that had just happened and sure enough in the distance there was a news van parked.

"That's it!" Speed said annoyed. "Let's get out of here!"

As Speed and Trixie headed to the Mach Five, a reporter ran up behind them trying to ask questions. "Trixie. Does Speed's scarf around your neck mean that you two are an item?"

Trixie nor Speed answered as they managed to get into the Mach Five and pull off.

"Damn press!" Speed exclaimed lying on the gas. "We never get privacy! We don't get it at my house! We don't get it anywhere we go! No where!"

Trixie didn't say anything being that she was still quite troubled by the hateful statement Victoria had made about being better off if the look alike had taken Speed's life. It was the sickest thing that Trixie had ever heard said.

Seeing the state she was still in, Speed asked while looking at her, "Are you alright?" "

Not looking at him, Trixie stared out into space and said very low, "I just want everyone to leave us alone."

Speed only shook his head agreeing.

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About ten minutes later, Speed pulled up to Sparky's apartment, which had a double garage under it. The young mechanic had wanted an apartment with a big garage so he could work there as well.

Happy to see that the big garage door was open, Speed pulled the Mach Five straight in.

Trixie only watched as Speed then jumped out of the car and then quickly pulled the big garage door down.

Thinking that he had heard the Mach Five, Sparky ran down into the garage. "Hey, I thought I heard the Mach Five's engine," he said glad he wasn't hearing things. "You two were just on TV."

"What a surprise," Speed said sarcastically.

"Oops. I guess I shouldn't have said that," Sparky said at hearing the irritation in Speed's voice.

Trixie was still sitting in the Mach 5 just watching as the two men spoke to each other.

"Listen, Sparky," Speed said in a hopeful voice. "Aren't you suppose to help my father later today?"

"Yes. In fact I was just getting ready to leave to meet him," Sparky said holding his keys.

"Look," Speed said running his hand through his black hair. "Would it be okay if Trixie and I stayed here for a little while?"

"Sure. Go ahead," Sparky said knowing that Mom Racer, Pops, the press and even Spritle had been watching them like hawks.

"Thanks," Speed said patting Sparky on the back. "Another favor?"

"What?" the mechanic asked trying to leave.

"Don't tell anyone where we are. Just act like you have no idea," Speed said in a persuasive voice.

"Sure thing," Sparky said looking from Speed to Trixie and then back to Speed. "My car's out front so I'll catch you two later."

"Thanks, Sparky," Speed said gratefully.

At that very moment across town, there was a man picking up his nephew from jail. The man felt obligated to do so no matter what his nephew had done.

The nephew was grateful to his uncle because the terror could soon continue.

Not much later, Inspector Detector arrived at the jail to speak to the man's nephew, who was the look alike. You could image the inspector's surprise when he found out that a judge had let the sick human being, the look alike, out on bail. No one had informed the inspector that the look alike would be set free before the trial. Anyone with common sense would have never let bail be posted.

There were no words to describe how the Inspector felt knowing he had to tell Speed that the look alike was out on the loose.

A half hour later, Inspector Detector showed up at the Racer's house when Pops was just on his way out. "Oh…hi, Inspector," Pops said happily.

Not even saying hello the Inspector asked, "Is Speed home?"

"No. He took off with Trixie." Because of Pops Racer's happiness, he began to rattle on. "You know, I can't blame Speed for falling for her. She's so devoted to him and he always has her over here. They are young adults..."

Cutting Pops off, Inspector Detector said, "Pops…the look alike is out of jail!"

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Just after Sparky had left his apartment, Speed walked to the Mach Five and opened the door for Trixie.

After taking his hand, she let him lead her into Sparky's apartment.

As soon as they were upstairs, Speed pulled Trixie into his arms and hugged her. She hugged him back so glad that they could finally have some time alone. After a long silence in their hug, Speed whispered, "Come on."

Letting him lead her to the sofa, Trixie watched as he lay down across it and then she let him gently pull her onto him. Resting her head on his chest, she felt him kiss the top of her head while his hand started to caress her back.

"I swear," Speed said almost sounding like he was laughing.

"What?" Trixie asked not knowing what he could think was funny at the moment.

"I don't think I'd be surprised if Pops suddenly walked in."

"Don't say that. I'm so tired of worrying about whether I'm standing or sitting too close to you."

"It's been hard for me too," he said kissing the top of her head once again.

Trixie only smiled before they laid there in silence enjoying the closeness of each other for a good while.

"Trixie," Speed suddenly said in a low voice.

"Yes," she said back in a soft, content voice.

"Before...with Victoria. You kind of had me worried when you rolled your eyes."

Trixie lifted up to see Speed's face. His expression was serious and she also thought he looked a little hurt. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that," she said now regretting it. "I just got jealous being reminded of you with other girls."

"Don't be jealous," he said as if it would be a waste of time to be. "I really didn't pay attention to anyone else the way I do to you."

"I know," Trixie admitted with a smile. After all, Speed had always been with her much more than who ever he was dating at the time.

"So you don't doubt my love for you?" he asked with a very serious look on his face.

"No. I don't," she said making him smile. "It's just that I think some of those girls were in love with your looks, but I'd still love you even if...if...all of your hair fell out."

Speed laughed, making her laugh with him. He then pushed her hair behind her ear and said, "Don't worry. I know no one loves me the way you do. I should have told you a long time ago how I really feel for you."

Trixie wondered just how long ago he meant. "You know," she said as if letting him in on a secret, "I told you I love you first."

"What?" Speed asked looking confused. "I told you _first_...today."

"Yes, but I told you weeks ago in the hospital," she confessed remembering her tears of that day.

"Wait a minute," he said unsure. "In the hospital, before I woke up the first time, I dreamt that you kissed me and said you loved me."

Trixie pushed off of Speed and sat up as tears came to her eyes. It was a bit too much for her as she remembered kissing his swollen face and saying those three special words to him. Very low, she said, "I…I can't believe that you actually heard me."

Speed sat up as well. "Yes. I did, but I really thought I was dreaming," he whispered back and then they hugged each other, knowing what they felt was very real. After awhile when they released each other, Speed put his hands on her shoulders and said very seriously, "That's what kept me alive."

"What?" she asked surprised that she was the reason.

"Because of the fear and the pain, there were so many times I felt I should just give up, but you were there...giving me a reason to live. In fact, when I got to the hospital in that...awful condition, I did feel you take my hand and hear you tell me I was going to be okay."

"You really did squeeze my hand back?" she asked remembering as the doctors were about to push him into the emergency room and how miserable she felt and that she really didn't want to let his hand go.

"Yes," he said. "It took everything in me just to do that, but I wanted you to know that I knew you were there...incase I didn't make it."

Trixie's hands trembled at the thought of him not making it as they moved to hold his face. Moving her lips to his forehead, she kissed him softly then said, "You had to make it. I couldn't live..."

"Without me," he whispered back finishing her sentence as he recalled her saying that to him in the hospital when he was very upset at seeing himself being beaten by the look alike on TV.

Trixie was overwhelmed with emotion that he had actually heard and remembered the things she had said. They truly had a connection.

All of the races they had been in together flashed through Speed's mind and then he said in a very emotional voice, "You are such a big part of me." He began to gently push her on to her back onto the sofa.

Trixie began to feel that they were the only two people in the world as his blue eyes held hers captive as his body covered hers.

"You're the reason I'm alive," he whispered because her love had given him the strength to live. "I love you, Trixie."

"I love you, Speed." With that her arms went around him and there was nothing but each other on their minds and in their hearts as they began a very meaningful kiss.


	18. Wanting to Finish the Job

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**Chapter 18: Wanting to Finish the Job**

The look alike was in his glory as he snuck out of his uncle's house wearing the famous blue shirt and white pants. Those were the only clothes with him at the jail when his uncle had picked him up. The look alike laughed to himself as he replayed the lecture he had received from his uncle in his head. The lecture had consisted of his uncle telling him that he couldn't leave the house under any circumstances. When the telephone started to ring, his uncle was too trusting as he left to answer it, leaving the look alike alone. The uncle's advice had gone in one ear and right out of the other because the look alike soon had his uncle's keys in the ignition of his car and was now headed to finish his job on both Speed and Trixie.

"What do you mean the look alike is out of jail!" Pops screamed at Inspector Detector feeling himself starting to sweat.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Racer," Inspector Detector said feeling horrible after giving him the bad news.

"I never thought in a million years that you would even let someone post bail to get him out!" Pops screamed outraged; wanting to hit something. "He's a damn animal who wants to kill my boy!"

"I know how you must feel," the Inspector said trying to stay calm so he could find out where Speed was.

"No! You don't know how I feel!" Pops roared getting right in Inspector Detector's face. "He made my son suffer tremendously and I'm sure that he wants to finish Speed off." Pops made fists with his hands and added, "How could you let him out on bail!"

"Damn it!" the Inspector yelled back almost tempted to punch the bricks on the front of the house as _he_ now lost it. "_I_ would have never let the look alike out! If it was up to me, I'd lock him up forever without even giving him a trial!"

"Then who let him out!" Pops yelled not feeling any better.

The Inspector tried to gain control as he said in a calmer voice, "The judge is a friend with the look alike's uncle. The uncle posted bail."

"Oh that's just great!" Pop's yelled feeling even more anger as his blood boiled. "I wonder how the damn judge would feel if a nephew of mine tried to kill his son! Would he let me post bail for my nephew?"

"I know what you're saying," Inspector Detector said disgusted. "Believe me. If I would have had any idea that this was going to happen, I would have stopped it."

"Stopped what?" Mom Racer asked appearing by the door next to Pops. "What were you two yelling about?"

Inspector Detector and Pops both calmed down as they looked at each other both hating to tell her.

"Oh no," Mom Racer said taking in the troubled look between the two men. She had known that something was wrong from the screaming she had heard, but now she knew what they had been screaming about had to be very bad.

Pops turned to his wife and broke the news to her as gently as possible. "The look alike is out of jail. He's free."

"What!" Mom Racer exclaimed almost feeling as if she could faint.

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"I wonder where Pops is," Sparky said to himself as he did a few things here and there in the Go Team's Pit at the track. Looking at his watch, he added, "I know he said to meet him here at this time." Suddenly Sparky thought he heard some footsteps. _That must be Pops, now, _he thought. He turned and thought he saw someone in a blue shirt and white pants walk by quickly. "Speed?" Sparky asked shaking his head as if to sharpen his vision. _I must be seeing things, _he thought but unfortunately he said out loud, "Speed is with Trixie at my place."

The person in the white pants and blue shirt hadn't been a figment of Sparky's imagination. The look alike was there, glad that Sparky had thought out loud. "Thank you, Sparky. Now I know where to find my prey."

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In the garage of Sparky's apartment, all was quiet. Once up the stairs, sweet words of love could be heard being murmured between sounds of passionate kissing among two people in love. Still on the sofa, his body layered over hers, it was as if Speed and Trixie were discovering a new and perfect world with only each other. She knew that Speed, the young man who had always confided in her and watched over her, was for sure her one and only and he knew there could never be another for him than Trixie.

Breathless after a powerful kiss, they drew apart and gazed deeply into each other's eyes. Very seriously, Speed whispered, "You are so beautiful."

"So are you," Trixie whispered back just as serious making Speed smile because he had never been told that before.

Not being able to fight the overwhelming need to kiss her again, he gave in and moved his lips on to hers for another tender, lingering kiss. The more passionate it became, the more their hearts pounded. Eventually their fierce kissing had somehow been enough as it came to an end, and they just held each other until fatigue began to take over the both of them.

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At the track, Sparky was still in the pit fiddling around under the hood of a car. Because the weather was a bit gloomy, he started to think about the horrifying things that had happened to Speed and he got chills as he imagined the look alike now coming after him. Pulling out from under the hood, he stopped and stared at the engine as he started to scare himself.

He imagined being hit by a truck, then tied up and almost beaten to death. "Poor Speed," Sparky whispered as he shivered. "It's like the look alike came straight out of a horror movie." Sparky started to shiver again as he imagined someone being a Sparky look alike who wanted to kill him. Suddenly, the scared mechanic felt a hand on his shoulder. "Ahhh!" he screamed scared to death.

"Sparky," Racer X said trying not to laugh. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

Sparky let out a relieved breath when he saw that it was the Masked Racer. "Oh hi, Racer X. Please just ignore me. I thought you were me, I mean looked like me, I mean oh, forget it."

"I think that would be best," the Masked Racer said more interested in knowing where Speed was. "How's Speed been doing since the look alike has been caught?"

"More like, how are Speed and Trixie doing?" Sparky said almost sounding a tad bit jealous. "I thought they were inseparable before. You should see them now."

Racer X smiled remembering the kiss he had caught Speed and Trixie in at the hospital before Speed was released to go home. "Give them a break, Sparky," Racer X said happy for his brother.

"I guess I should," Sparky admitted. "Trixie's a lot better than the other girls Speed has dated. Plus, it's different this time. I know Speed's _really _crazy about Trixie."

Suddenly a police car pulled up just barely stopping before Pops and Inspector Detector jumped out of it.

"Sparky!" Pops yelled running up to him not seeing the Mach 5 anywhere. "Do you know where Speed and Trixie are?"

Sparky vividly remembered Speed telling him not to say where he and Trixie were. "No, I don't know where they are." Sparky said nervously.

"Damn it!" Pops exclaimed knowing Sparky was hiding something. "Sparky answer me. Where are they?"

"What's wrong?" Racer X asked calmly while looking at Inspector Detector.

The Inspector shook his head in disgust as he said, "The judge let the look alike out on bail."

Racer X's adrenaline started pumping at knowing he had to save his brother.

"Tell us if you know where Speed is!" Pops demanded while staring a hole into Sparky.

Knowing that the young couple needed police protection as soon as possible, Sparky exclaimed, "He and Trixie wanted to be alone so they're at my place!"

Racer X was gone in a flash before Pops or Inspector Detector could even ask for his help.

Meanwhile, Speed and Trixie were now sound asleep in Sparky's apartment. They were each on their sides facing each other with their arms around one another.

Knowing as much as he did about Speed, the look alike knew right where Sparky's apartment was. He had no problem sneaking in through the big garage door, even with the large bag he was carrying. He carefully and quietly climbed the stairs and then walked into the small den, becoming quite pleased to see that his prey wasn't expecting him. After putting his bag down, he then moved to and leaned over the young, sleeping couple with a wicked grin on his face. Placing his hand on Trixie's head, he then lightly ran it over her hair.

With her eyes remaining closed, Trixie smiled feeling what she thought was Speed's touch as she gently squeezed his waist where her hand was resting on him.

The look alike smiled too as he pulled his gun out of his back pocket and then held it only an inch away from Speed's head.

Trixie opened her eyes to see Speed's beautiful sleeping face, but her heart felt as if it stopped when she noticed the end of a gun very close to the side of his head.

Not moving the gun away, the look alike whispered to Trixie, "Hi, baby."

Seeing the look alike through the corner of her eye, tears began to flow as Trixie looked back at a very unaware, sleeping Speed. She was too scared to move as she whispered, "Speed." Because he didn't respond, she said his name a little louder as the tears continued to roll out of her eyes. "Speed."

Acknowledging that he heard her, Speed only smiled.

Trixie hated that she had to make him open his beautiful blues to the horrible situation that they were in. Wanting to gently shake him to open his eyes, her hand on him had only managed to tremble.

The tremble made Speed open his eyes to see the tears running down her face and the fright in her eyes. Before he could say anything, she whispered in a shaky voice, "Speed. Don't move."

"Baby. What's wrong?" he asked not having a clue. For a brief second he wondered if he was dreaming when he suddenly felt the presence of someone leaning over them. Turning his head, the confused expression on his face turned to shock and then fear as he saw the look alike holding a gun pointed at him. But more worried about his girlfriend being safe, Speed protectively pulled her closer to him.

"Get up," the look alike said clearly enjoying himself as he backed up and pointed the gun at the both of them.

Speed couldn't believe this was happening as he stared at the look alike and whispered very low to Trixie, "Okay, let's just stand up."

They soon got up slowly and Speed instinctively moved in front of Trixie, not wanting her to get hurt. Forcing himself not to be scared, he told himself that the look alike was just a man.

"Oh no you don't," the look alike said with a smile as he tilted his head to look behind Speed at Trixie. "Come here you sweet thing."

Not wanting to leave her boyfriend, Trixie shook her head no.

"Leave her alone," Speed said not wanting the look alike near her.

Getting upset, the look alike pointed the gun in Speed's face and said, "Shut up. She's mine." He then grabbed Trixie by her wrist and yanked her to him.

Angry that the look alike had grabbed his girlfriend so roughly, Speed exclaimed, "You son-of-a-bitch! Let her go!"

The look alike put his arm around her waist and pulled her till her back was up against him, and then he put the gun to her head. "Don't tell me what to do!" he screamed at Speed. He then smiled at the control he had. "I could blow her brains out if I want."

Speed lifted his hands as if to give in and in a pleading voice he said, "Do what ever you want to me but please don't hurt her."

Trixie looked at Speed feeling he had been hurt enough by this mad man already.

The look alike then pushed Trixie down to the floor. "You're right," he said looking at Speed. "I want to finally finish the job on you."

Trixie lay on the floor half way sitting up on her side as she watched in terror how the look alike grabbed Speed by his arm and forced him into a chair, which was by the table in Sparky's small kitchen.

The look alike then turned to Trixie and said, "You. Get up and take everything out of my bag."

Trixie didn't know what bag he was talking about so she looked in the direction he had pointed. Sure enough there was a big, brown bag, like one that would be used in a potato sack race.

"Hurry up and empty the bag!" the look alike screamed at her.

Trixie crawled over to it and then slowly untied the knot that had kept the bag closed. Normally she would have gotten the knot out pretty quickly, but her nerves had her hands shaking too much. When she finally got the bag open, she hesitantly looked into it.

Speed saw the fearful expression on her face at what she saw.

"Trixie, Trixie, Trixie," the look alike said amused at her face as he kept the gun pointed at Speed. "Just take the stuff out of the bag."

Very low, Trixie began to whimper as she stuck her hand into the bag and pulled out a bat, more bullets for the gun, and then a rope."

"Now, now," the look alike said trying to sound extra sweet, "Trixie dear, get that rope and come here. I want you to tie Speed to the chair."

Trixie hesitantly picked up the rope and then stood up and walked over to them. She met Speed's eyes, but saw that he didn't look scared like she was.

"Pull his arms behind the chair and start tying," the look alike said motioning with the gun.

Trixie was literally shaking as she knelt down behind Speed.

Speed put his arms behind the chair and then soon felt Trixie's shaking hands tie him to it.

After the knot was made, the look alike leaned down and pulled on the rope. "Make it tighter than that!" he yelled at Trixie.

"Stop yelling at her!" Speed exclaimed beyond upset.

"You just shut up," the look alike said throwing a nasty look at Speed.

Not wanting to, Trixie tightened the knot. The look alike leaned over and pulled on the rope again. "That's much better. Now tie each foot to a leg of the chair."

Trixie moved around to the side of the chair and tied Speed's foot to the leg of the chair. After she tied his other foot to the other leg, she pushed up onto her knees to see Speed's eyes on her. For a split second she didn't care what the look alike would do to her and she threw herself against Speed and hugged him as she cried.

Speed closed his eyes and moved his head against hers trying to comfort her. "Shhh," he whispered. "I can handle it again."

The look alike rolled his eyes and said, "Okay, that's enough." He then took Trixie's arms from around Speed and threw her on to the floor.

"Damn it!" Speed yelled with anger. "Don't hurt her again!"

"You don't even want to know what I'm going to do to her when I'm finished with you," the look alike said with a laugh.

"I won't let you touch her," Speed said sounding so determined as he looked at the look alike with no fear in his eyes.

For a few seconds, the look alike stared back at Speed wondering how the racer could be so stupid to think he was going to live. "You won't be able to help her because you'll be dead," the look alike said putting his gun into his back pocket. He then leaned over and picked up the bat. Lifting it, it was clear that he was ready to swing it at Speed.

Suddenly, the door to the garage opened and both Speed and Trixie exclaimed at the same time, "Racer X!"

The look alike threw down the bat and grabbed the gun from his back pocket. But before he could point it at the Masker Racer, Racer X jumped on him knocking him to the ground as a struggle ensued.

"Trixie!" Speed called out looking at her; his eyes wide, "Untie me!"

Trixie rushed to him and began doing so.

While struggling on the floor, the look alike had managed to knock Racer X hard in the head with the gun causing the Masked Racer to fall unconscious; unable to help Speed for the first time.

Extremely angry, an untied Speed roared, "Put the gun down and let's fight!"

The look alike gaped at Speed as if he was crazy. Then suddenly the thought of a fight began to sound like a good idea as he put the gun into his back pocket once again figuring that he could just shoot Speed after the fight.

Trixie watched as they began to throw their fists at each other and she saw that Speed was definitely winning. His rage had him feeling as strong as an ox as he beat the life out of the look alike.

Knowing he was losing this fist fight, the look alike had somehow managed to grab his gun out of his back pocket and then point it at Speed. "I don't even care if you don't suffer, I just want you dead... now," the look alike said, breathlessly.

Trixie remembered how badly the look alike had hurt Speed in the woods and couldn't bare to see him hurt again, or worse...dead.

Unexpectedly, Inspector Detector and Pops came through the door. When the inspector saw the look alike pointing his gun at Speed, the Inspector pointed his at the look alike and yelled, "Drop it now!"

"NO!" the look alike yelled just as Trixie moved in front of Speed.

At that same moment, the inspector pulled the trigger to shoot the look alike. Inspector Detector knew this had to end once and for all before the look alike succeeded in killing Speed. The bullet hit the look alike in his chest and he began to wobble around for a few seconds with a sick smile on his face before he fell to the ground dead.

Though a man was dead, Speed felt relieved as Trixie backed her back up against him. He happily put his arms around her waist. "It's really over," he said so relieved, but Trixie didn't answer him. Confused, Speed wondered why she felt so heavy against him; like she needed his support to stand up.

After gently turning her around as he held her up, she whispered to him with her eyes just barely open, "I couldn't…let him hurt you…again."

"What?" Speed asked as his expression changed to sorrow when he saw the blood from a gunshot wound to her right side just under her shoulder. "Oh, no!" Speed said in a panic as his world came crashing down. "Trixie...no!"

Inspector Detector had seen what Speed hadn't. It all seemed to have happened in slow motion. When the Inspector and Pops had showed up, Speed looked at them taking his eyes off of the look alike and Trixie. Trixie however, saw the look alike ready to use his gun. To protect Speed, she ran in front of him. The look alike hadn't even known that he shot Trixie instead of Speed because he, too, was looking at the Inspector when he screamed "no" and pulled the trigger. The inspector and the look alike had pulled their triggers at the same second making two shots sound as one.

Feeling extremely weak, Trixie slumped against Speed.

Trembling as tears struck his eyes, Speed very carefully picked Trixie up and carried her over to Sparky's sofa. He knew that other than needing God, he needed her in order to live.


	19. The Future

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**Chapter 19: The Future**

Standing by the sofa, Speed held a very weak Trixie in his arms while numerous things ran through his mind as his eyes took in her frail form. God, how he wished he could go back in time and change what had happened. _Why did she have to be the one who got shot? Why didn't I notice her step right in front of me?_

Slowly, he began to carefully lay her onto the sofa. Not about to leave her, he knelt down next to her fighting the tears that wanted to fall from his eyes as he took her hand in his. Being strong for her was the only thing that was going to help her even though he felt just about immobilized.

Inspector Detector entered the room after leaving to call for help. Standing by the door, he said in a comforting voice, "Speed. An ambulance is on the way."

Still looking at Trixie, Speed nodded his head that he heard, but the distress on his face was more than obvious. Again he began to torture himself, wishing he would have known to push her out of the way. Taking the gunshot himself would have been much easier than seeing the person he was in love with like this - her life possibly in danger.

He hated seeing her so drained especially since she had been anything but that just moments earlier. Flashes of the passion they had shared ran through his mind making him recall how she had just about brought him to his knees and ready to do anything she wanted. His eyes had been totally lost in hers as she stressed how strong her love for him was between their kisses. He had been under her spell. She had made him weak, but now she was the weak one, but in a different way - fighting to hold on to her life.

Pops moved over to them and put his hand on Speed's shoulder as he looked at Trixie. He said in a very gentle voice that he rarely used, "Trixie. I know it's hard but hang in there for us, honey."

Trixie's eyes felt like rolling to the back of her head but she forced them to remain on Speed's. The beautiful blue they were reminded her of the sky when no storms were in sight. In her heart, she knew her pain would have been worse if Speed had been the one who had gotten shot.

Though crushed, Speed forced a smile as his free hand gently pushed her hair out of her now pale face. Tears glistened in his eyes as he gently began to untie his red scarf, which was still around her neck. "I need to borrow this," he whispered as he carefully pulled it free and then pressed it over her wound to try to stop the bleeding. The thought of losing her made him feel an agony he had never experienced before. It was even worse than the tremendous pain he had suffered when the look alike had tortured him. He couldn't remember when Trixie wasn't in his life, and he didn't want to find out what it was like.

Pops hated seeing his son looking so destroyed but he wasn't surprised. Trixie had been his partner in everything he did, his sidekick, his best friend, and most recently his girlfriend - the first very serious love he had ever had. Even though Pops hadn't heard a siren, he turned to the window to see if the ambulance had gotten there yet. Not seeing it, he thought of how upset Mom Racer would be if she knew what was going on. More than a few times he had even admitted to himself that Trixie was like the daughter he had never had. A tear trickled out of one of his eyes as he said, "Son. Just keep talking to her."

"Trixie," Speed said softly as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Talk to me, baby. Don't you dare leave me."

"I don't want to leave you," she whispered sadly, hinting that it might be out of her control.

Across the room, Racer X started to come to. He lifted from the ground and with his hand he felt the lump on the back of his head. "Oh, no. Speed," he suddenly whispered afraid of what the look alike might have done. However, turning his head, the Masked Racer saw a panic-stricken Speed kneeling next to the sofa over Trixie. After slowly getting up, Racer X walked over to them to hear Speed speaking softly to her.

"Hey," Speed said trying not to sound worried. "An ambulance is gonna be here any second now. You'll be all fixed up in no time."

Trixie continued to force her pretty green eyes to stay open as she stared into Speed's blue ones. His eyes said how upset he really was and she hated to see him that way. "I'm sorry, Speed," she whispered concerned. "It's just that he hurt you so much already."

"Oh, Trixie," Speed said turning away for a second as he felt an anger start inside of him. He almost wanted to tell her that what she did was wrong. That she shouldn't have stepped in front of him to take the bullet. Suddenly, he felt her hand on his face and he turned back to face her.

"I'm sorry, Speed," she whispered again knowing he was torn up inside.

Again, Speed's way of thinking changed as he looked into her now teary eyes. "Shhh," he said just before kissing her cheek. "I know you did it because you thought I've been through enough and...you love me."

"I do," she whispered as her hand slid from his face back down onto the sofa.

"I really love you too," Speed whispered back not caring who heard him.

Upset for Speed, Racer X pulled Pops away from the young couple and whispered, "What the hell happened?"

Sadness made Pops shake his head as he said, "Trixie purposely took a bullet that was meant for Speed."

Racer X didn't find it hard to believe because of her devotion to his little brother, and he shook his head in despair. He then sadly said, "She put his life before her own. She's always been protective of him."

"And I'm a witness to what happened tonight," Pops said feeling as if he could cry as he pushed his hands into his pockets. "She saw the look alike about to shoot Speed so she stepped right in front of my son."

The Masked Racer turned to look at Trixie, feeling so much more for her than he had ever felt before. He knew she truly may have saved his little brother's life.

"Trixie," Speed said with a hopeful expression on his face. "There's still so much that we have to do."

Though her eyes were tired, she kept them open for Speed, listening to him.

"I mean if it's okay with you...I wanna marry you," he said with more honesty than she had ever heard in his voice before.

She smiled weakly and said, "Marry me?"

"You know that's not the kind of thing I joke about," he said with a loving smile while still holding the scarf on her wound.

Smiling herself, she remembered the many times he had said he would never get married. "Speed Racer married?" she whispered in disbelief.

"To you, you better believe it," he said positively shaking his head yes. "Can't you imagine us having kids together some day?"

She was already a bit lightheaded from her injury but now Speed was adding to it making her again give him a delicate smile. He hadn't known that she had imagined them having children together many of times before.

When the ambulance finally arrived, Speed hesitantly moved away from Trixie. He watched closely as the paramedics placed an oxygen mask on her face and as they began checking her wound. They then hurriedly got her into the ambulance in less than a few minutes, and let Speed ride with them to the hospital.

Once in the hospital, Trixie was rushed to the emergency room leaving Speed feeling helpless.

Pops had gone off to find his wife, who was to meet them there.

Speed was standing looking into the emergency room when Racer X put his hand on his shoulder.

Looking defeated, Speed faced his brother and said sounding so hurt, "Rex. Please tell me she'll be okay."

Rex smiled putting both of his hands on Speed's shoulders as he remembered another very unpleasant day. "I remember Trixie saying the same thing to me about you. In fact she had broken down in this very spot." He was speaking of that horrible day when Speed had been rushed to the emergency room, and Trixie cried like a baby.

Speed's shoulders slouched down as he sadly said, "She's always been so good to me." Then becoming angry he shrugged from his brother's grip and exclaimed, "Why did she have to put my life before her own!"

"She's one of a kind," Rex said calmly as he took hold of Speed's shoulders again as if to try to calm him down. "And I'm pretty sure that you would have done the same thing for her."

"In a heartbeat," Speed said as his eyes showed that he meant every word.

"Speed," Mom Racer called walking towards them.

"Mom," Speed said turning to her, needing his mother's soothing words.

Racer X left as Mom Racer hugged her middle child.

"I heard what she did for you," Mom Racer said as she and Speed backed out of their hug.

"It should have been me who took that bullet," Speed said feeling guilty as his eyes looked to the floor.

Thinking before she spoke, Mom Racer let out a deep breath. With her hand, she lifted Speed's sad face till his eyes looked into hers. "Speed. Please don't say that. No, I wish with all of my heart that she hadn't gotten hurt, but I really think the only thing she was thinking of is that she couldn't bare to almost lose you again. It's always been so obvious that she has tremendous feelings for you."

Speed backed away from his mother making fist with his hands. "That's all the reason more why I should have been protecting her better. I should have been the one shot," he said in frustration.

"Speed," his mom said lovingly as she moved closer to him. "The strength she had to move in front of you in the first place would have been strong enough not to let you push her a way."

Speed actually began to smile at his mom's words. Trixie was one determined, tough, young lady. "I want her to make it so we can share a future together."

"I know you do," Mom Racer said tilting her head to the side. "Don't think that I didn't know that a serious love was involved when I caught the two of you up in your room that night."

Speed then fell into his mother's arms as he let her console him.

A half hour later, Speed was sitting in the waiting room as he stared at the wall across from him.

Elevator music was playing when Sparky recognized the song. "Speed," the mechanic said excitedly hoping he'd cheer his friend up. "Remember when you were singing at that party? This is the song!"

Speed looked at Sparky as he began to listen and then the memories came back to him. He, his parents, Sparky and Trixie had attended a cousin's engagement party. After a toast had been made to the future bride and groom, the potential groom asked when Speed would finally settle down, not now knowing just how good the young racer was feeling at that moment. Speed in fact had been feeling a little too good since he had eaten over a dozen chocolate candies not knowing that they had been filled with liquor. When Pops found out, he only shook his head knowing that Speed wouldn't be driving home that night. Because the young racer was in such a good mood, he insisted on singing his answer to the future groom's question with the band. The band knew the song Speed suggested so they agreed to play. However, they wished they hadn't when they heard Speed's singing voice.

Everyone laughed at the singing, especially Trixie and Sparky as Speed sang a song, which spoke of staying single forever. It had been the theme of his teenage life. He had made it clear more than a few times that being free forever suited him just fine. At the end of the song, he uttered how he only wanted to hang out with his friends. The girls at the party looked aggravated that they never had a serious chance with him after hearing the lyrics of his song.

When the song was fininshed, Speed plopped himself back down in a chair next to Sparky and as he looked around, he asked, "Where's my buddy Trixie?"

Sparky laughed at his drunken friend and said, "She was laughing so hard at your singing that she accidentally spilled a drink on herself. She's in the rest room."

"I swear, Sparky. I'm never getting married," Speed said looking a little too happy with his decision.

"So I've heard - especially tonight," Sparky said because of Speed's almost unbearable singing.

"That's right. I'm never tying the knot," the young racer said feeling the need to express his feelings again as he raised his hand to high five his friend.

Knowing the condition Speed was in, Sparky knew he could pry some interesting information out of him after their high five. "I'm not saying you will, but if you had to marry someone at this party, who would it be?"

Speed was more than willing to play the game as he smiled and let his eyes check out the females there. There were gorgeous blondes, red heads and brunettes everywhere in all shapes and sizes. Suddenly a particular brunette caught Speed's eyes as he watched her small curvy frame move across the room. In the state he was in, he happily said, "If I had to marry someone and spend the rest of my life with her, I would choose Trixie."

"What!" Sparky exclaimed almost falling out of his chair. "She's your best friend. Isn't that like incest or something?"

Ignoring Sparky, Speed stared at her and said, "I'd like to run my hands through her hair and knock that little bow right out of it."

Sparky saw Trixie heading over to them and figured that it had to be the liquor making Speed say those things. "Speed, she's coming! Shut up so she doesn't hear you!" Sparky said tempted to cover Speed's mouth with his hand.

"I'm going to tell her that to me, she's the finest girl here," Speed said shaking his head yes to Sparky with a wide grin on his face.

Just then Trixie walked up to them and sat down next to Speed. She couldn't help but notice Sparky's perplexed look and Speed making eyes at her. Looking a bit confused, she asked, "What were you two talking about?"

"Nothing," Sparky answered very quickly.

Speed on the other hand wasn't thinking straight and couldn't keep his thoughts to himself as he leaned in very close to Trixie. "I told Sparky that you're the finest girl in here and that I'd like to run my fingers through your hair and knock that bow right out of it."

Astonished, Trixie just stared back at Speed and soon remembered the liquor in his system. She then started to laugh as she said, "That's a good one, Speed. I think you need to go home."

Being in the mood Speed was in, he began to laugh as well, just before passing out on her.

Sparky and Trixie had agreed never to bring the night up to Speed so she and her best friend wouldn't feel awkward around each other. However, Speed did remember the things he had said but never brought it up either. He didn't want anything to change in his relationship with Trixie at the time, even if he had fantasized often that she was more than a friend to him.

"Excuse me, Speed," the doctor said bringing Speed out of his memories of that night.

"Yes," he said standing up quickly as his family gathered around. "Is Trixie okay?" he asked as his eyes expressed how worried he was.

"She will be fine," the doctor said and then began explaining what he had done in the emergency room.

As the doctor explained, Speed heard nothing. He only heard the doctor's words, "She will be fine," running through his mind over and over. He felt like jumping up and down from the relief he felt.

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That night in her hospital room, Speed sat in a chair next to Trixie's bed and held her hand. He couldn't help but remember how she had been there for him when he was in the hospital.

Mom Racer too was there since she insisted on staying for a while. She hadn't told Speed that she wanted to say something to Trixie when she woke up.

Later when Trixie began to stir, she felt her hand in someone's. Opening her eyes, Speed's beautiful eyes stared into hers as hers focused. She then heard him say, "She's awake," to someone in the room just before he said, "Hi, Trix."

Trixie smiled at him as he kissed her hand. "Hi," she whispered back with a smile.

"You're going to be fine," Speed said happily with a wide grin on his face.

Suddenly Mom Racer was on the other side of her. "Hi, Trixie Dear," Mrs. Racer said with tears in her eyes as she took the young girl's other hand. "I won't say much, but I couldn't leave the hospital till I said something to you. I want to thank you for probably saving my son's life. So...thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Still feeling a bit out of it from the medication, Trixie only smiled back at Mom Racer.

"I knew she wasn't staying here to keep me company," Speed joked as his Mom stood up and left the room. He then looked down as if thinking of just what to say. Lifting his eyes back to Trixie's, he said, "I too have to thank you for probably saving my life."

"I'm glad you forgive me," she whispered knowing he was upset at her for taking the bullet.

"Trix. I'm so glad you're alive," he said very seriously. She was alive. He was alive. The look alike was dead. _Things can't get any better, _he thought, _unless…_"Trixie. Do you remember the things I said to you in Sparky's place before the ambulance got there?"

"Yes," Trixie whispered wondering just what he was getting at.

"Good," Speed said as he began to kneel on the side of the bed still holding her hand. He took time to stare into her tired yet alive, green eyes. After the long stare, he said very seriously, "Will you marry me?"

After putting her hand on his face, she stared back into his eyes for a few seconds and softy said, "Only you."

Speed kissed her hand then stood up to give her a sweet, tender kiss. He smiled knowing that it might be awhile before they actually got married, but just the promise of it made him feel so fulfilled. Being funny, he said, "I can't wait to freak Pops out with the news."

"We're engaged and we have…barely dated," Trixie said very slowly as she imagined being Mrs. Speed Racer.

"But, it's right," Speed said without a doubt. "We know each other too well."

Still feeling weak, she said, "Let's see if you…still want to marry me in a week, Mr. I'm-never-getting-married."

Pushing her hair out of her face, Speed said very seriously, "You know, a long time ago, I once told someone that I would marry you, and I meant it. I've been loving you for as long as I can remember."

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Ten months later, Speed won the same race, which the look alike had disrupted everyone's lives in the year before.

Speed's fiancée ran right into his arms after he crossed the finished line. Their relationship was as strong as ever and their wedding was right around the corner. Life was good for the once just friends.

Trixie had been Speed's reason to live. He could have given up many of times when he was in the hospital but for her, he didn't. He put her first, as she put him first when she took the bullet meant for him. Now a future would start because of the strong love developed from the friendship between the two.

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_Author's Note: I know it was a crazy, mushy story, but please let me know what you think even though this story has been on this site for awhile now. Thanks, Jen_


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